A Warrior, An Archer and a Fox
by Danasca
Summary: Formerly known as Konoha's Wild Warriors. What if Naruto met twins who would be his brothers in everything but blood? What if he considered the fox as a father? How would this change the Naruto universe? Enter and find out. NaruHina Smart Fox like Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

Konoha's Wild Warriors

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

**AN: Hey everyone Danasca here! This is my swing at makin a fanfic so I'm pretty knew to the whole thing I guess... So heres my first chapter. Hope you enjoy and please review, all kinds of critics are welcome. I'll try not to make characters to powerful so without further adieu let the story begin!

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Two boys of about 6, were walking down the street heading home from the festival held in memory of the defeat of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The boys were twins. They were both about 3'6 with lightly tanned skin and brown shaggy hair. They were both wearing black sandals, blue shorts and plain white shirts. The only difference between the two was their eye colors. Yoku had grey eyes the color of concrete while his brother, Doku, had red brick colored eyes.

The two were wondering Konoha with Doku leading the way. "Are you sure this is the way?" asked Yoku. He already knew that they were lost and it was no secret that the grey eyed twin was the smarter of the two, but his brother was stubborn at the worst and best of times especially when it came to being right and wrong, meaning that Doku was usually wrong and Yoku had to put up with it until his brother finally gave up.

"Course I do!" replied Doku. He flashed his brother an annoyed look. He knew he was lost but he wasn't about to admit it... yet anyway. Turning down an alley the red eyed boy said "I know exactly where we're going and this alley should bring us pretty close to the forest,". Unfortunately the alley turnd out to be a dead end with nothing but a large dumpster in it."Say it," said Yoku with a merry glint in his eye. Doku sighed and mumbled something under his breath. "I can't hear you!" said Yoku in a taunting sing song voice. Growling in anger Doku managed to grind out "We're lost and I have no clue where we're going,".

Yoku smiled and said "Good, now how about we he-" before he could finish a blur had slammed into him at an alarming speed. The blur in question was a sun-kissed blonde haired boy with tanned skin, cerulean blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek. The boy was none other than 6 year old Naruto Uzumaki, wearing a tattered white shirt with an orange swirl on the front and back, black shorts and blue worn out sandals. To say the boy was panicked would be an understatement and his alarm was further increased when he heard someone shout "Get back here demon,".

Doku may not have been that smart but he knew that look anywhere. It was the look of a hunted animal desperately trying to escape. Without even thinking he grabbed the other two and quickly tossed them into a dumpster before jumping in with them and slamming the lid behind him. "What the hell is-!" started Yoku but before he could finish Doku had slapped his hand over his twin's mouth hissed "Shhh! Unless you want them to find us shut up!".

Yoku noted the urgency and seriousness in his brother's eyes before he nodded. Naruto whimpered in fear but remained quiet as possible. A few minutes later they could hear voices outside of their hiding place. Yoku quickly whispered "They may look in here so start covering yourself in the garbage," Doku nodded and startet following his brother's advice and Naruto hesitantly started to do the same.

"Where is that hellspawn?" said a voice. "I could have sworn I saw him run down this alley," someone shouted. "He's probaly hiding in that dumpster like the trash he is!"stated a feminine voice. Immediately the dumpster was opened and two men looked into the contents of the dumpster. "There's nothin in here but stinkin garbage!" snarled one man, the other nodded in agreement.

"Damn demon must have tricked us and headed back to his hiding hole," said someone. "Then lets go find it and burn the place to the ground with the demon in it!" shouted a female. She was met with a roar of approval and the aley was soon empty of the violent mob.

A few minutes later three boys burst from the dumpster gasping for fresh air. "Man that was close," gasped Yoku, the others nodded in agreement. After they had caught their breath Doku turned to Naruto and asked "So whats your name kid?". Naruto hesitated, mentally debating whether or not the two in front of him were friendly or not. After a few seconds he stammered "N-Naruto Uz-Uzumaki". Yoku smiled warmly at the short boy and said "Pleased to meet you Naruto. I'm Yoku,and this is my twin broter Doku,". Doku responded by saying "Yo,".

"Why were you being chased by that mob?" asked Doku. Naruto looked at the ground and said "I don't know, they always chase and hurt me. They keep calling me demon and say I did some thing, but I don't know what I did wrong!" he had started out softly but had nearly wailed the last one. Naruot was on the verge of tears when he felt a weight on his shoulder. He looked up in shock to see a pair of red eyes looking at him with warmth and worry "It's ok, those guys were just a bunch of jerks," stated Doku warmly. "Yeah, come on lets get out of here and head home," Yoku said with a smile. The three boys exited the alley and started walking west.

Naruto was about to turn and say goodbye to the twins when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Confused he turned to see a questioning look in Yoku's grey eyes. "Where are you going?" Confused Naruto said "I'm going home,". Doku looked at Naruot like he was crazy and said "Don't you remember? That mob said they were going to burn down your house, besides there is no way we're letting you go off alone," Yoku nodded in agreement. "The where am I supposed to go?" asked a confused Naruto. "Where else? You're coming to stay with us," stated Yoku as if it were obvious.

Naruto was stunned. "But won't your parents get mad?". The twins looked at each other and shrugged. "We don't have parents," they said in a matter of fact tone. Naruto's eyes widened in shock "I-I'm sorry I-" before he could apologize both boys laughed and said "Don't worry about it Naruot," laughed Doku "Yeah, we have no idea who our parents are, so there's no reason for you to apologize,". Naruto nodded but he thought '_These two don't have parents either? And why are they laughing about it?'_. Deciding to ask at a different time he decide to just follow the two. Besides he didn't really want to upset the only two kids his age that were being nice to him.

After an hour or so the boys had arrived at a campsite with a large tent in the forest near one of the training grounds. "So this is where you guys live?" asked Naruto. "Yup," said both boys proudly. "We live out here because we don't have enough money for an apartment yet," Doku informed the blonde while Yoku was starting a fire. "For the most part we make money by selling broken weapons from the training grounds to a local smith, but it's only enough for some clothes, cooking stuff, and some food, the rest we need to join the academy so we usually just hunt and fish for the rest of our food," Doku explained to Naruto. " So how long have you guys lived out here?" Naruto asked, he was curious about his new found friends '_At least I hope they're my friends_' he thought. Doku seemed to think about it for a minute before he said "Well we've been out here for about two years I think... Yeah about that long, we got kicked out of the orphanage for pranking the matron too much," laughed Doku. He saw that Yoku was done and disappeared into the tent.

Naruto sat down next to the fire and waited. After a minute Doku appeared with a pot, some water canteens and some instant ramen. "Hope ya like ramen Naruto, its all we got right now,". Naruto smiled and said "Are you kidding? Ramen's my favorite!". Doku smiled while his brother laughed. Soon the boys were chowing down when Doku asked "So you going to the academy too, Naruto?". He nodded and replied " Yep! I'm gonna become the best so that I can become Hokage!" nearly shouting the last part. The twins laughed and said "Cool, we'll help you do it too, right Yoku?" Yoku nodded "Of course! What are friends for?".

Naruto gave a foxy smile to his two new friends. '_I can't believe it! I have friends!' _he screamed in his head. Yoku yawned and said "Well, lets hit the hay guys, tomorrow is the first day of the academy and we'll need sleep so that we can wow everyone with our skills,". The other two nodded and headed to the tent to sleep. Naruto noticed a third sleeping bag already set up for him and smiled. After everyone said good night to each other they all fell asleep with dreams of tomorrow and their future together as shinobi.

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AN: And that's it for chapter one. Leave some reviews and some ideas for a pairing. Also I need a good website so I can actually make some jutsus. I don't want to use the english names because those are boring I mean, what would you rather hear Shadow clone jutsu or Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? unfortunatly that's the only Japanese I really know so if you could it would really be a big help. So I'll see ya guys later! P.S I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANYTHING ELSE EXCEPT FOR THE STUFF I MAKE UP LIKE YOKU AND DOKU


	2. New morning

Konoha's Wild Warriors

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

**A/N: Hey all! Danasca here with a new chapter! Sorry this took so long but I've been away at camp anyway thanks to all who subscribed to this story and to answer your question shadow-the black queen, the Kyuubi will play an important role in Naruto's life. Well let's start this new chapter. Please leave ideas and what not.**

**I do NOT own Naruto**

Naruto was sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of the two boys smiling mischievously at each other. Yoku lifted his hand with three fingers up and slowly counted down.

3…

2…

1…

As soon as the last finger went down Doku proceeded to grab Naruto, sleeping bag and all, and threw him out of the tent while screaming "GOOD MORNING NARUTO!" Before Naruto knew what had happened he found himself face first in the ashes of last night's fire.

Spluttering the blonde quickly stood up and yelled "What the hell was that for?". Doku grinned at him and said "To get you up of course, if you're gonna be living with me and Yoku, you gotta get up at the same time we do," Yoku appeared with a smirk and a bow in hand. "Which means you get up before dawn everyday," he stated in a matter of fact tone.

Naruto was horrified and he made no attempts to hide it. _'Before dawn? Everyday?'_ sighing he hung his head in defeat. "Fine but can I ask why so early?" Naruto asked with a small glare.

Yoku shouldered a quiver of arrows before saying "Two reasons: One to give us enough time to hunt for breakfast, and two, to get ready in time for the academy," With that he jogged off into the forest and was soon lost to the foliage. Doku shrugged and tossed a 4 inch long survival knife at Naruto's feet.

Startled Naruto picked up the knife and looked at Doku just in time to catch a sheath where he could strap it onto his arm or leg and sheath his new knife. "To answer why I gave you that it's because of two things. One that knife is good for hunting, skinning and other things," Doku explained, "Two you're gonna need something to defend yourself with until we get enough money for real shinobi tools," Naruto frowned, but nodded in understanding.

"So what do we do until Yoku gets back?" Naruto inquired. "Well first off do you know how to gut, clean and skin an animal?" asked Doku. Naruto nodded his head. "Then you can get started on making a fire. Just grab some dead leaves and branches. I'm gonna go take a quick dip in the lake to get clean," Doku informed.

With that Doku left leaving Naruto to his task and thoughts. _'I can't believe it'_ Naruto thought. **"Neither can I kit, but its better that that cardboard bow you were staying in," **said the Kyuubi. Naruto mentally nodded in agreement.

When Naruto was four he had been thrown out of the orphanage. Shortly after Naruto had been nearly killed by a mob. That was the first time Naruto had been attacked by a mob.

**-**_**Flashback**_**-**

A three-year-old Naruto was lying on the ground, beaten, broken and covered with cuts and blood. Only two thoughts went through the kid's head, why had he been attacked and called a monster? And was he going to die? Not long after that the boy slipped into unconsciousness.

Soon Naruto found himself lying down in some shallow and filthy water. Sitting up he found himself in what appeared to be a sewer with numerous pipes protruding from the walls. What caught the blonde's immediate attention though was the giant ornate cage. The bars were huge and spaced out far enough that it would be no problem for him to slip through them. In the cent of the cage was a piece of paper with the kanji for seal on it.

Curious the small boy walked forward to investigate. Suddenly he came face to face with a giant red eye with a slit black pupil. Naruto froze, because as soon he came face to face with the eye he felt it. The emitting from the cage was incredible! There was a sense of malice floating in the air that made it hard to breathe. Suddenly the eye widened and the poor blonde was hit with powerful amount of killer intent. It took all of Naruto's willpower not to pass out in fear at the presence before him. Instead he just sat down in the water with a look of utter terror.

Suddenly the room was filled with laughter, not a dark and menacing laugh but a laugh filled with amusement, the kind of laugh a prankster would have after pulling a prank.** "HAHA! Nice job kit! You passed my test," **boomed a loud voice. Naruto just let out an intelligent "Huh?" while the eye just shone with mirth. Immediately the landscape around the two shifted into that of a forest clearing with a large lake nearby. Naruto stared with a confused and apprehensive look at the fox that stood in front of him. It had reddish brown fur with red fox eyes and nine tails waving behind it. The fox seemed to have an amused smirk on its face.

"**My test kit, you passed,"** Naruto just sat there with his head tilted to the side in a questioning manner. **"I mean if you're going to be my container then I want to make sure you're tough. Most people would have fainted and others would have died, when I stare at them like that. Only a handful of people have been able to do what you did, and even fewer to actually be unaffected," **chuckled the Kyuubi. Naruto scratched his head and asked, "What do you mean by container?"

Suddenly the fox got a serious look on his face. **"Tell me Naruto, what do you know about the fight between the fourth hokage and the Nine tailed fox?"** scratching his head Naruto responded "Well a big monster called the Kyuubi came and attacked the village. Then the fourth came ad did some awesome jutsu that killed it, but the fourth died too," stated the young blonde. **"You are somewhat right Naruto but not completely. The fourth could not kill me so instead he sealed me into a newborn baby,"** the fox said in a serious tone. Curious the blonde asked "Wait you mean you're the Kyuubi? You don't look evil to me," stated the three year old.

The fox smiled sadly at the boy. **"Yes I am the Kyuubi, but I did not mean to attack the Leaf,"** said the fox **"All I seem to remember is going through the forest when I locked eyes with a man named Madara Uchiha,"** he growled out the last name, his tails thrashing behind him in anger, **"Those damn eyes of his caused me to attack your village, and what is worse is that this is not the first time he has bent me to his will,"** for a while the fox sat there in apparent fury, killing intent pouring out of him. Naruto unconsciously took a few steps back from the angry fox in fear.

After a while the fox sighed **"I apologize if I have startled you Naruto, but you had to know why I attacked the village before I told you the most important part of my tale," **Naruto waved his hands dismissively and gave the fox a big grin "Don't worry I'm not mad at you, it's not your fault," The fox just smiled sadly _**'Poor kid, his life has been hell and yet he still smiles, damn those villagers! Naruto I am truly sorry, but I will make up for it'**_** "Naruto listen carefully to what I am about to tell you"** the blonde stared at the fox curious as to what it was he had to tell him **"Naruto, YOU are the child that I was sealed into, You are my container,"** he waited for the news to sink into the blonde.

For what seemed like an eternity Naruto sat there dumbfounded. He realized why the villagers were so mean to him now, why they scorned and hurt him. _'So I really am a monster? But why me? Maybe the villagers are right' _while he was thinking this he was completely unaware of the fox growling in anger. Without warning Naruto found himself pinned to the ground with an angry fox staring directly at him. **"Don't you EVER think that again!" **snarled the fox. Bewildered Naruto just stared at the fox, his mouth agape. **"You are not a demon and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! You are Naruto Uzumaki, container of the nine tailed fox and I REFUSE to have a vessel that thinks otherwise,"** the nine tailed demon snapped. Naruto nodded to afraid to say anything. **"Naruto am I a monster?"** the fox asked intently.

A bit taken aback at this Naruto hesitated. All his life he had been told that demons were evil. That they were monsters filled with malice and hatred. Yet after meeting the supposed worst of the worst. He couldn't call Kyuubi a monster, maybe a little scary at times but not a monster. Naruto shook his head. "No you're not a monster. You can be a little scary, but not a monster," stated the kid.

At this the fox rolled off Naruto laughing. He composed himself and regarded the young blonde with kind eyes **"Good, now don't you ever let those villagers get you down and if they do, get up, spit in their eye and run like hell!,"** stated the fox. Naruto giggled at this and agreed. From that day Kyuubi had taught Naruto how to survive, how to hunt, steal, and read. Kyuubi also taught Naruto how to get back at the villagers, and it was in the glorious ways of pranking

_**-End Flashback-**_

Naruto finished collecting wood and started the fire. _'Should we tell Jiji about this?' _Naruto asked his tenant **"He'll find out anyway, besides you need to tell him that living at that apartment he gave just wasn't working out," **stated the fox. It was true. Even though he had been given an apartment, Naruto rarely stayed in it due to the villagers' constant break-ins and attacks. That and he was overpriced on his rent and bills and he was forced to pay up for all the damage the villagers caused out of his own pocket. Naruto hadn't stayed in the apartment for little over a year, figuring he'd move back when he became a ninja.

Sighing, Naruto sat down next to the fire and waited for his friends to come back. Not long after Yoku appeared carrying two freshly killed rabbits by their hind legs. "Hey Naruto, where's Doku?" greeted the grey eyed boy. "He said he went to take a dip in the lake, so is that breakfast?" the blonde asked pointing at the rabbits. Nodding Yoku tossed him a rabbit and started cleaning the other one.

Wielding his new knife Naruto proceeded to gut and skin his own rabbit. Soon there were two rabbits roasting on spits in the fire. "Mmm something smells good!" a voice exclaimed. A wet haired Doku soon appeared out of the bushes.

The boys ate their meals and prepared for their first day of school. Naruto was wearing a white T-shirt with an orange swirl on the front and tan cargo pants. Doku was wearing a simple red T-shirt with forest-camo pants and Yoku wore a black shirt and loose jeans. "All right boys time to start our career as kick ass shinobi! So lets go!" Doku exclaimed with his fist in the air and dashing off towards the village. Naruto followed excitedly while Yoku just palmed his face and followed slowly after.

About an hour later we find our heroes in a dead end alley. "Say it," said Yoku. Doku grumbled. "I can't hear you," sang Yoku. Growling, Doku slumped his head and said "I don't know where the academy is," Naruto sweat dropped at this and proceeded to follow Yoku, with a depressed Yoku at the rear. Minutes later the boys found themselves staring at their classroom door.

"Ok so who wants to go in first?" asked Yoku. "You go first Doku," said Naruto. "No way! What if the teacher is mad at us for being late?" Doku argued. "Well we ave to go in sooner or later," stated an annoyed Yoku "So one of you open the door," "Why don't you do it then?" challenged Naruto. They argued for a bit before the twins caught each other's eyes and nodded at the same time, as if agreeing on something. Naruto, oblivious to do this, suddenly found himself thrown into the classroom. Thus began our heroes' first day of school.

**A/N: Man that was a long one! Anyway hope you guys enjoy this and I'll get a new chapter up as soon as I can, but don't hold your breath cause I have to work on my other story too, A Shinobi's Metal. Anyway see ya guys next time and be sure to review!**

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	3. Academy Days and graduation

Konoha's Wild Warriors

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

Iruka, a brown haired chuunin with a horizontal scar across his nose, had been doing role call when he noticed that he was missing three. Before he could ask if anyone had seen the three the door suddenly being broken down by a flying blonde boy interrupted him. Soon twin boys walked in with grins on their faces, obviously amused at their friend's predicament.

"Would you stop throwing me?" screamed Naruto sending a furious look at Doku. Doku shrugged and said "I will when it becomes boring or you're too fat to toss," This caused several snorts of laughter while Yoku could barely withhold his laughter. Before he could retort, Naruto was interrupted by a cough from behind. Turning he faced his teacher who had a somewhat annoyed look on his face.

"Would you three mind taking a seat and introducing your selves to the rest of the class?" asked Iruka with his best 'angry-teacher-look'. Yoku gave a polite hai while leading his bored looking brother and grumbling friend to sit in the middle row where there were three empty seats. Iruka gestured for the boys to introduce themselves Yoku quickly stood up and cleared his throat "My name is Tsuuro Yoku," he stated kindly. Next his brother came up and gave a lazy wave "My name is Tsuuro Doku," he stated lazily in a monotone. Naruto then leaped up and excitedly stated "And I'm Uzumaki Naruto,"

Nodding Iruka continued "Alright now that everyone is here lets head out to the testing area to get a grasp on your skills, since I know many of you are clan heirs," with that the chuunin led the students to the back of the academy where he assessed the various children's throwing skills. "First up is Aburame Shino," called the instructor. A kid with a high collared coat, shades and standard shinobi sandals walked up to the throwing line. Without a word, the silent kid threw the kunai and landed a hit inside the second ring of the bulls-eye. "Good throw Shino," and with that he called various students and each one varying from adequate to skilled yet no one had yet to land a bulls-eye though a lazy boy named Shikamaru came close.

"Next up is Tsuuro Doku," called the scarred man. Doku walked up to the line and took the kunai. Taking aim he threw the weapon and it landed with a dull thud in the target. It wasn't a great shot but it wasn't the worst one. "Ok, next is Tsuuro Yoku," called the man. Yoku walked up to the line and tested the balance of the kunai before taking aim. Narrowing his eyes, the gray-eyed boy let it fly and hit the target with a resounding thud. Everyone who had been watching (save a red eyed twin and raven haired boy) gasped in amazement at the toss. It was a perfect shot, dead center in the bulls-eye. "Wow, a perfect shot Yoku, next up is Uchiha Sasuke," stated a wide-eyed Iruka.

There were squeals of adoration as the brooding child took the kunai and threw it with out really seeming to aim. Screams of adoration were heard at the last Uchiha's results. Like Yoku he had hit dead center. "Excellent shot Sasuke," said the chuunin kindly. The brooding youth just gave an uninterested grunt and stalked back to the rest of the students where his fan-girls fawned over the amazing Sasuke-kun. "Next is Uzumaki Naruto," said the instructor.

An excited blonde rushed up to the throwing line and grabbed the kunai. Taking aim the academy student fired the kunai with all his worth and it landed a little closer to the center than Doku's. Ecstatic at his toss the blonde gave an excited "Yatta!" before rejoing his friend's who congratulated him on the throw. "All right next is…" and so it went till everyone had thrown. Afterwards everyone headed to ring to be pitted against each other for taijutsu.

After a couple of fights Doku was called to the ring to fight a boy wearing a grey coat with fur lining the hood. Said boy had feral looking eyes, sharp canines and red triangles under his eyes. "Inuzuka Kiba vs. Tsuuro Doku, ready? Begin!" stated the instructor before moving out of the way. Immediately the two engaged in a vicious taijutsu battle with Kiba slashing at Doku in his clan's style while Doku blocked and dodged the attacks with a serious look in his eye.

"Would you hold still and fight me already?" growled an annoyed Kiba. Before he knew it, Doku had slammed a devastating punch to Kiba's face, causing him to fly back and hit the ground with a painful thud. Groaning Kiba tried to get up only to find that Doku had pinned Kiba to ground using his weight and had his hands on each side of the young heir's head, ready to snap his neck. The look in Doku's eye was like looking into a battle-hardened veteran's. Kiba knew with full certainty that this red-eyed kid wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he wasn't a fellow student and Konoha denizen.

Everyone was shocked at the outcome except for Yoku who just smirked at his brother's victory. Even the normally cold Uchiha had a look of surprise on his face but he quickly hid it behind his brooding self but the look of surprise and… hunger? Was still in his eyes. Getting over his shock Iruka pronounced Doku the winner. Doku helped the dog boy to his feet with a warm smile and thanked him for a good fight. Kiba could only nod while the two went and sat back down with their classmates, many staring at Doku in amazement.

"How did you do that?" asked an astonished Naruto while the next combatants fought. "I really don't know," shrugged Doku, "It's weird, but every time I fight I feel this… feeling come over me like I know exactly how to fight and when and where to strike," he stated to a confused Uzumaki. "He's telling the truth Naruto, every time me and him spar he wins most of the time because he gives absolutely no quarter and capitalizes on any opening or weakness," stated Yoku in a matter of fact tone. Deciding to leave it as a mystery to solve at another time, Naruto turned back to watch the fight end and some brown haired student be declared the victor. "Next up is Haruno Sakura vs. Tsuuro Yoku," the instructor declared.

"Wish me luck guys," said a smirking Yoku. Naruto did while his twin just gave him a lazy wave to get going. Chuckling a bit Yoku entered the ring and eyed his opponent. She had pink hair that reached her waist that was held in place with a red hair band along with startling green eyes. She wore a red battle dress with slits on the side so she could move, black skintight pants that stopped at her mid thigh and standard shinobi sandals. She got into a sloppy taijutsu stance with a determined look on her face and a confident smirk.

'_Hmm, let me see… if I'm correct she comes from a minor ninja clan, the majority are probably civilians'_ thought Yoku eyeing his opponent _'From her stance I can assume that she doesn't have any proper training except for some minor teachings in taijutsu'_ "Alright are both combatants ready?" asked Iruka breaking the grey eyed boy out of his thoughts.

Yoku nodded at the instructor while Sakura stated "I'll wipe the floor with this guy, then Sasuke-kun will notice me!" Iruka had a small sweatdrop at this but just sighed and began the match. Yoku immediately entered a basic taijutsu stance, his arms in front of him and his legs in a wide stance. He stood and waited for the pink haired girl to strike first.

Sakura rushed her opponent her fist cocked back and aimed straight for Yoku's head. The grey-eyed boy slid away from the punch and grabbed the girl's fist before delivering a quick jab to her armpit, effectively rendering her right arm useless. Astounded Sakura immediately broke away from the grey-eyed boy and reevaluated her opponent. _'What the hell did that guy do to my arm? I can't move it'_ though the girl slightly frightened. Immediately her thoughts went back to the match she saw where Doku beat Kiba and had the perfect chance to kill the Inuzuka. She quickly shook her head of these thoughts and reassured herself that it was just a lucky shot and quickly charged the boy again intent on kicking him out of the ring.

Once again Yoku ducked under the kick and grabbed Sakura's leg in mid air. Quickly Yoku gave a quick jab to the underside of Sakura's knee, rendering it useless. He jumped back and watched the Haruno girl hit the ground both her right leg and right arm completely useless. _'How the hell is he disabling me like this?'_ she thought amazed. The rest of the class were wondering the same thing except for Doku who just muttered "She's done," Naruto nodded in agreement staring in awe at Yoku.

'_Ok, I've disabled her but more than likely she'll get up again' _Yoku mused _'She seems determined to win this to impress Sasuke, most likely she's infatuated with the Uchiha along with every other girl'_ Yoku thought with a small frown. Sakura tried to stand but her leg kept giving out under her. Iruka saw this and declared Yoku the winner.

Yoku relaxed and much to Sakura's surprise and annoyance insisted on helping her back to her beloved Sasuke-kun. "WOULD YOU LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY?" shrieked an annoyed pink haired banshee. Bowing, Yoku politely stated "As you wish Sakura-san, I only wished to see that you got back to your seat ok," Unbeknownst to him several girls though _'what a gentleman'_ each with a small blush on their faces. Iruka chuckled at this while Yoku sat down next to his twin and blonde friend.

"Well, well why so nice to the pinky?" asked Doku slyly. Catching on Naruto smirked and asked "Yeah Yoku, you even walked her back to he seat, why?" Turning a little red from embarrassment Yoku started defending himself saying he was being polite to his fellow classmate while the other two boys laughed. The fights continued until there were only two boys left. "Ok the final match is Uzumaki Naruto vs. Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka called out.

Naruto leapt into the ring with a giant grin on his face while Sasuke just walked in and glared at his blonde opponent. "Are you guys ready?" asked the chuunin. Naruto nodded energetically while crouching low to the floor while his opponent just took his family's taijutsu style, an arrogant smirk on his face. "Begin," shouted the instructor.

"**Kit let this kid beat you,"** Kyuubi told his container seriously. Surprised Naruto asked _'How come Kyuubi-sensei?'_ **"Remember kit, a shinobi's best tool is deception and that goes doubly so for us Kitsunes so don't use the zuruiken style I taught you, just use basic taijutsu," **Naruto mentally nodded and changed his stance so that he was in the academy style.

Sasuke immediately charged Naruto and proceeded to unleash a barrage of blows upon the blonde. While the jinchuuriki blocked a good amount of the blows the Uchiha succeeded in knocking Naruto out of the ring with a straight kick to the chest. "Hn, not even worth my time," stated the Uchiha smugly. Iruka pronounced him the winner and he was met with cries of "Sasuke-kun rules!" "So cool!" and other such phrases from screaming fan-girls.

"Alright everyone take a break for lunch and return to class in one hour," informed the teacher to the students. Naruto and the twins decided to eat lunch next to a tree that had a single swing hanging from it. "Soo… you gonna tell us why you held back against the Uchiha in that fight?" asked Doku staring at Naruto curiously. Both boys had seen Naruto's original stance and wondered why he had switched to a far simpler taijutsu style. Both twins were curious to what the style was and why Naruto hadn't used it, but Yoku didn't want to intrude on Naruto's personal life, figuring that Naruto would tell them in time after he had gotten to know the twins better. Doku, however, figured that he would ask and if Naruto didn't want to answer he would just ask at a different time and pursue the mystery later.

Surprised, Naruto debated on whether to tell his newfound friends about it. Though he was grateful that the twins saved him from the mob and let him live with them, he didn't really know how much he should tell them. Years of abuse at the hands of the villagers made it so that Naruto had only a select few people that he felt he could trust, such as Hokage-jiji and the owners of Ichiraku's, and even then he still hid things from them.

Deciding to give an ambiguous but hopefully satisfying answer Naruto put on a foxy grin and replied simply "A shinobi's greatest tool is deception," The twins looked skeptical at first but shrugged it off and accepted the answer… for now that is. Yoku decided to perch himself in a low branch in the tree while Doku and Naruto just sat at the base munching on some wild berries and fruits that Yoku had found in the forest earlier that morning, the trio ate in a comfortable silence occasionally breaking it with some small talk that varied from the weather to story swapping about past hunts. Much to the surprise of the twins apparently Naruto rarely used weapons when hunting, preferring to use his hands saying that it was a good way to practice speed when chasing an animal and strength when some of the more stronger prey fought back.

'_Hmm, I should start hunting boars that way, that would make one hell of a workout'_ thought Doku with a reckless smirk and a small glint of battle lust in his eyes. _'Hmm, definitely worth looking into, Kami knows I only won that fight against Sakura because she had no real taijutsu training' _Yoku mused. Suddenly a figure ran by with a group of screaming fan-girls following.

It was Sasuke and once again he was being chased by fan-girls. _'Why me? Isn't it bad enough that my brother killed my clan? What did I do?'_ thought the last Uchiha, desperately trying to outrun the species known as Homo Fangrilus. Doubling back Sasuke passed the trio he had passed earlier, except with one notable and, in Sasuke's opinion wonderful, difference. When he heard a surprised cry he turned back to see that all three boys were laughing at the mess of limbs that had been the mob of fan-girls chasing Sasuke. He then noticed the rope in Naruto's hands and came to the conclusion that Naruto had tripped the girls with the rope in a simple tripwire trap.

Naruto grinned at Sasuke and gave him the signal to run. Nodding the Uchiha tore off in the direction of the school, hoping for a brief respite. Suddenly Naruto felt a very evil presence coming from the direction of the tripped up fan-girls. The twins immediately stopped laughing for they too noticed the rather hostile feelings emitting from the females. One of them, a platinum blonde haired girl, stood up and glared at all three boys, obviously blaming them for the escape of her prey. Slowly as she raised her hand and pointed to the trio with a feeling that would make even the shinigami shudder in fear.

Doku gulped, while Naruto giggled nervously. Yoku took the initiative and launched himself higher into the tree while his brother and friend followed after with hellhounds in the forms of females surrounding the tree calling for the boys' blood. "Back you harpies, back! You won't be feasting on my flesh tonight! Back, I say!" screamed Doku swinging a stick to keep the women at bay. "Wow, Doku who knew the lady's liked you so much that you'd have to literally beat them back with a stick!" sniggered Naruto with a fox like grin. Yoku just stared in awe at the females _'Such raw fury, such bloodthirsty looks, it's beautiful yet terrifying, truly the human female is an amazing creature, I wonder what it would be like if they were fully grown woman?' _at this Yoku shuddered and swore to himself to avoid pissing off a woman at all costs. After a while the fan-girls left the boys alone, thinking it wasn't worth being late to class over. Nothing else noteworthy happened during class and at the end of the class, we could find our blonde hero and his friends heading into town.

Naruto had told the twins that there was a ramen stand that he wanted them to try out stating that they had the greatest ramen in the world. On their way to the stand, both brown haired twins noticed that Naruto was receiving a lot of glares from the people they passed. They also heard the whispers of "Demon brat," "Damn thing shouldn't be alive" and other such things. Naruto seemed oblivious to this though or he was just used to it. Both twins started to wonder just what Naruto had been through in his life.

Annoyed the red-eyed Doku glared at an old lady who was staring at Naruto with unmasked contempt. "Oi! What the hell is your problem ya old hag? If you have a problem with my friend then either say something or get over it!" snarled an enraged youth. Doku had always been a firm believer in that if you had a problem with someone you either said something or screwed off, no matter who you were. The woman just glared at Doku before spitting at the boys and stalking off. Doku snorted while his brother had a slightly annoyed frown and Naruto just stared at him in surprise that someone would actually do that for him.** "I like that kid," **the Kyuubi stated with a pleased smile on his face. Naruto just mentally nodded and took his friends to the now in sight Ichiraku's Ramen Bar.

"Hey Teuchi-ojij!" shouted the blonde after sitting on one of the stools with each Tsuuro twin flanking him. A man appeared from behind the counter dressed in an apron with a kindly smile on his face. "Hey Naruto! Now I can pay my bills, so what'll ya have?" asked the old chef kindly. "The usual," replied the blonde happily. "And you two?" inquired the man to the boys sitting next to his favorite customer. "I'll take whatever ramen that has a lot of meat in it," stated Doku with a hungry grin. "I'll have a miso ramen, Teuchi-sama," stated Yoku politely. "Three misos and one extra beef ramen coming right up," declared Teuchi. As he went to prepare the food, a brown haired girl, only seeming to be two years older than the three boys, appeared wearing the same outfit as her father appeared. "Hey Naruto, I thought I heard you," said the young girl kindly "So what are your friends names?" she asked.

Doku gave a big grin and pronounced loudly "Names Tsuuro Doku!" jabbing a thumb towards himself. Yoku and Ayame could only sweatdrop at the boy's boisterous attitude. "Ano, My name is Tsuuro Yoku, a pleasure to meet you," stated the grey-eyed boy politely. Ayame blushed slightly at this _'wow he's a real gentleman'_ "I-I'm Ichiraku Ayame, nice to meet you too," she stammered. "Ne, you ok nee-chan? Your face is looking red?" Naruto asked, worried that his surrogate sister had a fever. This only caused the poor girl's blush to deepen, while Doku burst into laughter.

Before things could escalate Teuchi appeared with everyone's orders, saving his daughter from further embarrassment. The three ate their meals and once they had finished paid Teuchi and headed off. "So Ayame? How come you kept on staring at the with the grey eyes?" asked the father teasingly to his madly blushing daughter. As the girl tried to defend herself his father just laughed.

After leaving the boys had ended up back at their camp. "Alright, I'm off to do some more training," stated Doku, who was now wearing a white undershirt and some simple grey workout shorts. "Fine, just remember not to overdue it," sighed Yoku. Nodding Doku took off to his secret training ground. "So what kind of training does Doku do?" Naruto asked his brown haired friend. "That's for Doku to tell you, just know that the results make Doku quite the powerhouse," stated Yoku with a small smirk. Curious, Naruto was tempted to follow and see what Doku was doing. "If you want to go see what he's doing then go ahead. Just follow the sounds of breaking stones," Curious Naruto took off while Yoku waited by practicing his accuracy with his bow.

Yoku was pinning falling leaves to a tree with amazing shots when Naruto stumbled back in with an amazed look on his face. "Holy. Crap," were the only two things the blonde said before taking off into the forest with a determined look on his face. "I'm gonna go get some forr for dinner and train!" shouted the retreating figure of Naruto. Sighing Yoku retrieved his arrows and pulled out a book titled "Pressure points of the human body and what they do".

**6 years later, Final day of Academy and genin exams**

Yoku was sitting in his seat reading a scroll on archery. Over the years Yoku had changed the way he looked. His hair had gown long reaching down to his shoulders but it had long since been tamed. He wore a simple brown T-shirt with a black archer's vest and had tan cargo pants. He wore black shinobi sandals and a skin-tight black glove that had the fingers for the middle and index finger removed. At the moment he was only half reading his scroll while staring at his brother Doku who had his legs kicked up onto his desk in a relaxed position in the seat to Yoku's right.

Doku had also gone through a wardrobe change. Doku wore a red and grey camo styled muscle shirt, showing off his muscles to the world which were surprisingly large,. It was easy to say that Doku was ripped. He wore deep brown cargo shorts with black hunting boots. His hair was barbaric to say the least, while not very long it was an untamed mess that, coupled with his red eyes and devil-may-care grin, made him look quite savage. Currently he looked like he was asleep when in reality he was basking in the stares that the female students kept shooting at his powerful frame, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

Currently the class was waiting for Iruka to show up so that the genin exams could begin. _'I wonder where Naruto is? Probably setting up a grand finale prank'_ Yoku mused. Glancing at his brother he cocked an eyebrow in a quizzical way. Cracking his left eye open Doku just gave a slight shrug before closing his eye again. Neither boy knew what their surrogate brother was up to.

Just then a red blur burst through the door and leaped into the empty seat next to Doku. It was Naruto and he had his trademark grin on his face. He was wearing an open red sweatshirt with several hidden pockets inside it and loose open sleeves and the kanji for trickster on its back while he wore a black shirt underneath. He also wore loose blue jeans surprisingly Naruto had decided long ago that he didn't like shoes so he went barefoot everywhere he went. While many would ask how he could be a ninja without proper foot protection, the bottom of Naruto's feet were tougher than the best leather armor almost like the pads of a dogs. Naruto had also got more… fox like over the years. His hair was still spiky blonde but it was wilder than before and his whisker marks were more pronounced against his tanned skin and his nails had lengthened and sharpened like claws. His canines were also more pronounced and poked out of his upper lips at all times while his eyes had become somewhat more… feral. His pupils were somewhat like the slit eyes of a fox. If anything Naruto's appearance could be described best as animalistic.

"Hey guys! What's up?" asked the blonde happily. _'Sheesh Naruto gets more fox like in behavior and appearance everyday, Wonder if this is what happens to every jinchuuriki?' _mused Yoku. The twins had been told about the blonde's burden a couple years back and had finally understood why the villagers hated him so much, but the Tsuuro boys had adamantly stated that it didn't matter what Naruto had in him and the blonde would always be their brother in everything but blood. This of course caused the villager's hate to grow towards the twins to the point where all three boys couldn't shop at certain places. It had made getting an apartment a real pain and they only had the place thanks to the hokage.

"Not much Naruto, been waiting for Iruka to show up so we could pass the exam," stated Doku lazily. "So what did you do for your grand finale?" asked a curious Yoku. Naruto chuckled and looked Yoku in the eye, his blue eyes brimming with pride and mirth, "I painted the Hokage monuments," he stated simply with an impish smile. Doku roared into laughter while Yoku could only stare at Naruto in awe. "Holy crap Naruto! Lemme guess? Shadow clones?" asked Doku wiping the tears from his eyes. Doku loved Naruto's pranks and had even helped him. "Yup I tell ya guys, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is the best thing I've ever learned from Tou-san," stated the blue-eyed boy happily while patting his stomach as if he had just finished a filling meal. Naruto always referred to the Kyuubi as his father; due to the fact the fox had been the biggest form of comfort and learning for Naruto. Whenever people Naruto or the twins about who Naruto's supposed 'father' was Naruto would just give them a sly grin and say "You'll find out one day… or maybe not," while the twins just shrugged saying that neither Tsuuro knew who their blonde friend was talking about.

"Hey dobe!" called an arrogant voice. Sighing Naruto turned to stare at the last surviving Uchiha. "Teach me that just, dobe," Sasuke demanded. Doku growled at the raven-haired boy. He absolutely despised Sasuke. From the top of his hair shaped like a duck's ass to bottom of his blue shinobi sandals. If anything the red eyed boy wanted to beat the boy to a pulp and spit on the Uchiha fan on the back of the blacked haired boy's blue shirt, then crush whatever manhood the arrogant bastard had hidden in those white shorts of his. Yoku put a hand on his brother's shoulder, knowing how much his red-eyed twin hated the other boy.

"Can I help you Uchiha-sama?" asked Naruto his voice dripping with sarcasm. Ignoring the sarcasm the Uchiha said "Tell me how to do that jutsu, it would be better suited in the hands of an elite than in those of the deadlast," sneered Sasuke. It was true, for some reason Naruto had always made it so that he was the deadlast, purposely messing up jutsus, failing exams and losing spars and whenever he was asked by Iruka or his surrogate brothers he would say "A shinobi's best tool is deception," confusing everyone. "Hmmm… I suppose that's a good reason for someone as stuck up as you," stated Naruto in a mock thinking pose. Sasuke's eyes narrowed in annoyance "Watch what you say, dobe," growled out the cold youth. The entire class had taken an interest in the conversation and Sasuke's fan-girls were staring in awe of their precious Sasuke-kun. Iruka had walked in and was about to end the discussion when he caught Naruto staring at him with a strange gleam in his eye. He gave Iruka a quick wink before staring at the Uchiha with a mischievous look. "Ok, Sasuke I'll teach you the jutsu on one condition," the fox boy said. _'He finally realizes I'm his better'_ thought the last Uchiha smugly "Fine, what's your condition dobe?" said the youth with a victorious smirk. "It's really quite simple, all you have to do is give every one of your fan-girls a kiss… on the lips," stated Naruto.

Needless to say the fan girls went nuts, all clamoring to be Sasuke's first kiss. "No way!" said a horrified Uchiha. Sasuke absolutely hated fan-girls and the thought of kissing one terrified the poor raven-haired boy out of his wits! "Why not Sasuke? Are you too shy?" Naruto asked with his head tilted to the side in curiosity, Suddenly his eyes widened as if in realization. "OF COURSE! IT ALL MAKES SESE NOW!" shouted the young Uzumaki with a triumphant smile on his face. Everyone stared at Naruto curious as to what he had figured out.

Naruto pointed a finger at Sasuke and pronounced happily "YOU'RE GAY!" At this every male in the room burst into fits of laughter while Sasuke could only look on in embarrassment and rage at this proclamation. Doku was howling with laughter, tears streaming down his face while he rolled on the floor as if possessed. The girls were devastated,_ 'Could Sasuke really be… gay?'_ they thought. It was too horrible and all of the girls could only cry out in protest against this statement, save a pale eyed girl with indigo hair who was giggling at her crush's antics. She wore a beige baggy jacke and standard shinobi shorts and sandals. Her name was Hyuuga Hinata, shy heiress to the Hyuuga clan.

"All right everyone, take a seat so we can start the exam," stated a grey haired man in a standard chuunin outfit. Everyone took a seat while Doku tried to control himself. "Ok everyone the first part is a written test so come up and get your papers," Mizuki, for that was the second teacher's name, stated.

Everyone grabbed their tests and began the quiz. Yoku had finished five minutes after his test and was allowing his eyes to wander. He saw that Sakura and Shikamaru had already finished as well. Glancing at his brother, he saw him with a frown on his face, trying to answer the questions as best as he could. Yoku sighed, Doku may be the strongest kid in class, he didn't do so well when it came to planning and questions, in fact if it weren't for Yoku, Doku would be sure that he would of just sat there staring at the questions with a blank look. Naruto would have gotten better off, after all he had a thousand year old demon in his gut that he could talk to at any time. Speak of the devil or fox Naruto was staring at his questions with a small smirk.

Naruto's test had questions that no genin could answer. Naruto knew some of the answers but not enough that would let him pass. His smirk though was for a different reason though. The blonde had always known that his education was trying to be sabotaged by the various instructors, so Naruto took on the mask of a buffoon and answered every question wrong, even on the tests that hadn't been tampered with. This resulted in making every instructor believe that Naruto was truly hopeless, except for one. The blonde knew that there was one person who was giving him a harder test for reasons other than the fact the person didn't like him and the blonde had figured out it was Mizuki.

Naruto carefully observed Mizuki and found out that he was planning on stealing the forbidden scroll and that he was going to use Naruto to do it. The blonde had deduced that Mizuki would do anything to fail Naruto and get him to steal the forbidden scroll as a 'make-up exam'. The prankster had told the Hokage, who had been skeptical at first, but Naruto had convinced him that if he was wrong then nothing would happen and if he was right then the village would have removed a traitor from its ranks. Thus a plan was formed and the trap set. The only ones who knew about it were Naruto, Sarutobi, Yoku and Doku. He had considered telling Iruka but thought it would be best not to lest Mizuki caught wind of the set up.

"Alright everyone times up!" called Iruka. "Leave your tests on my desk and when you return from lunch we'll finish the exams up with the ninjutsu portion," stated the brown haired chuunin. The boys were all sitting in a tree behind the academy watching the other students chat and play. "So Doku, you finish with that project yet?" asked the blonde who was currently eating some ramen. "Yup, just need to perfect my stance and I'm good to go," Doku replied while tearing into a hunk of jerky. Yoku just munched on a rice ball he had while reading a book about ancient generals and warriors. Turning the page Yoku glanced down and spotter a certain Hyuuga looking around.

"Naruto when are you going to ask Hinata out? you know she has a crush on you," the grey-eyed boy asked calmly. Doku coked on some jerky at hearing this while Naruto shrugged. "After I get some money and find a restaurant that'll actually serve me. Figure I'll just ask her to get a bite and see where it goes from there," stated the spiky haired boy nonchalantly. "Hold up a second! Since when does Hinata have a crush on Naruto?" asked a bewildered Doku. Naruto stared at Doku as if he had grown a second head while Yoku just smirked at his brother. "Are you serious?" asked an amazed Naruto. Doku frowned "What? Is it common knowledge or something?" asked Doku Defensively. "Yes, everyone in the school knows," deadpanned Yoku. Doku turned to Naruto, who nodding his head saying that it was true.

"Well, if it's true then how come you haven't asked her out yet?" inquired Doku. "Elementary my dear Watson," stated Naruto in a strange accent "First, I haven't the funds to procure a date of memorable worth, second, she is the heir to a prestigious clan and I am the village pariah. Finally, I want to get to know Hinata before I actually date her," during his entire explanation Naruto had somehow produced a fancy pipe and monocle and was now smoking the pipe while his left eye sported the monocle. "Riiight…" responded Doku while his twin had a sweatdrop. Just then the bell rang and all three boys leapt out of the tree to take their ninjutsu portion of the genin exams.

"All right class, after we call your name you will go into another room where both Mizuki and I will evaluate you and you will either pass or fail," stated Iruka "Those who pass will receive a headband, while those who fail will not," with that the scar nosed chuunin began calling out names and taking whoever was called to the backroom. Every clan heir had passed and, surprisingly, so had the fan-girl Sakura Haruno. Doku had passed and used the metal as a belt buckle while Yoku securely fastened it to his head, keeping his bangs out of his grey piercing eyes. "Naruto Uzumaki," called the instructor.

"Finally!" shouted the blonde. He entered the back room to see Mizuki and Iruka sitting at a table lined with Konoha headbands. "Alright Naruto, just perform the henge, kawirimi and bunshin jutsus," Mizuki said with a friendly smile. Nodding Naruto henged into the third hokage and easily switched places with the log in the corner, but when he tried to create a bunshin, he was only able to produce one pale and sickly looking clone that could only sit on the ground in a pathetic heap. Needless to say, Naruto was failed.

We see our favorite blonde sitting on the swing watching all the families congratulate their children on passing or consoling those that didn't. Some of the adults would glance at the boy with hatred or disgust and whisper about him. Naruto eard every word they were whispering to each other due to his enhanced hearing courtesy of the fox. "Can you believe what would happen if HE became a ninja," muttered one voice "Thing doesn't deserve to be a ninja, much less be alive," whispered another. The blonde boy just sighed and looked the part of isolation and sadness.

Soon the fox-like boy noticed his silver haired sensei approaching him. _'Show time'_ thought four people simultaneously, two hidden in a tree and two on the ground. "Hey Naruto, you wanna talk?" asked a 'concerned' Mizuki.

**A/N: Annnd DONE! Ok guys tell me what you think, so R&R and tell your friends and all that blimey… I AM DANASCA MASTER OF THE PIGMYS!**


	4. A Scroll and Bells

Konoha's Wild Warriors

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

**A/N: Alright everyone it's time to start a new chapter. This one will be long because I'm doing team placements and the bell test. Also I was informed that fox's don't have great eyesight, but to be honest this isn't going to make Naruto's eyesight worse or better because quite frankly I'm already going to give someone horrible eyesight. You'll find out who it is later in this chapter.**

It was nighttime in the village of Konoha, but ninja of chuunin rank and higher had been ordered to find Naruto Uzumaki, because he had in his possession the forbidden scroll. Said blonde was in a clearing deep in the forest leaning against a tree, with the forbidden scroll tucked under one arm. He was waiting for his sensei Mizuki to come and evaluate his 'make-up exam' and the barefoot child was bored out of his mind. _'Come on you silver haired punk, I have things to do'_ the blonde grumbled to himself.

"Naruto!" called out a voice. The fox boy turned to stare in surprise at where the voice came from. _'Shit! Please don't be him, pleas don't be him…'_ prayed the blonde. Suddenly out from the leaves burst none other than Iruka. The brown haired chuunin had an extremely worried look on his face.

"Naruto what are you doing with the forbidden scroll?" Iruka questioned the fox like boy. "The entire village is searching for you! Do you even know what you've done?" Iruka practically screamed at the boy.

Naruto was panicking at this point. "Iruka trust me this isn't what it looks like," the blonde told Iruka quickly. Before he could continue he heard the whistling of kunai. With surprising speed Naruto tackled his sensei to the ground, narrowly avoiding several kunai.

"Good job Naruto, now just give me the scroll and you pass," Said Mizuki, appearing on a tree branch with two fuma-shuriken strapped to his back. He had an obvious fake smile on his face and was staring at Naruto with a power hungry look on his face.

"Naruto don't give Mizuki the scroll! I don't know whats going on here but you can't trust him!" Iruka shouted to the blonde who was staring at the silver haired ninja with an impassive look.

Naruto didn't listen and tossed the scroll to Mizuki, much to Iruka's horror. Mizuki grinned and was about to catch the scroll when the 'scroll' disappeared in a poof of smoke. Before the surprised nin could do anything a fist slammed into Mizuki's jaw. Causing him to fall to the ground in crumpled heap.

"Well that was disappointing," growled out Doku, who had henged himself into the scroll. He turned to an amazed Iruka and raised his hand and gave a lazy "Yo,"

Mizuki, sat up rubbing his jaw and glared at the red-eyed boy. He reached for his shuriken only to be stopped by the feel of a kunai against his throat. Turning his head around he was met with the piercing grey eyes of none other than Tsuuro Yoku.

"Don't even think about it or I'll slit your throat," the boy said in a cold voice.

"What is going on here?" shouted a confused Iruka.

"Simple sensei, Mizuki's a traitor. He tried to convince Naruto into stealing the forbidden scroll saying that if he did, Naruto would be promoted to genin," Doku said lazily. "Fact is, Naruto has been suspecting that Mizuki was a traitor from day one. So he told us and the hokage about it, saying that if he was right then we got rid of a traitor and if he was wrong then nothing would happen and he'd go another year at the academy as punishment for suspecting a fellow Konoha shinobi of treason," at this point Doku had a smirk on his face and was staring at Mizuki, daring him to try something.

Mizuki was about to say something when he felt Yoku press the kunai against his throat, drawing some blood. Needless to say the silver haired nin stayed quiet. Naruto smirked and helped Iruka back to his feet.

"Wait, Naruto is this all true? Does the hokage really know about this?" Iruka asked glancing at Mizuki, who had just gotten a small gleam into his eye.

"Don't listen to him Iruka! Remember what he is!" screamed the silver haired man, ignoring the blade at his throat.

"And what is Naruto exactly?" inquired Doku. All three boys seemed curious as to what he would say.

"Mizuki don't! You know its forbidden!" Iruka cried with a desperate look in his eyes.

Mizuki ignored Iruka. "12 years ago, the Kyuubi attacked and everyone was told that the fox was killed by the fourth but that's not true because no one could kill the fox!" he said with a crazed smile "Instead he sealed the beast into a child, a baby born on that very day," here he paused, staring at his captive audience with a psychotic gleam in his eyes before they rested on the blonde. Here his smile got even bigger.

"That child… was you! That is why everyone in this village hates you! You are Kyuubi no Kitsune reborn in human flesh!" crowed the traitor. He was sure that he had crushed the blonde boy and scared the other two boys, but instead he only heard the laughter of both Doku and Naruto and felt Yoku press his kunai against the man's neck with a bit more pressure, drawing even more blood.

"Whats so funny, demon brat," spat Mizuki. Yoku just used his other hand and turned Mizuki's head to the right. What the silver haired traitor saw made his blood freeze.

There, standing with his head bowed and killing intent rolling off of him in waves, was none other than Hiruzen Sarutobi the third Hokage and nicknamed Kami no Shinobi, and he was pissed. Slowly he lifted his head and sent a glare at Mizuki that would make even the Shinigami himself nervous.

"Mizuki you have broken my law, you are hereby sentenced to death," the old man stated coldly. With a nod to Yoku, the grey-eyed boy slit Mizuki's throat. Mizuki died seconds afterwards with a look of horror and disbelief on his face.

"Looks like you were right Naruto," said the old man to the slightly saddened boy. "Naruto in light of your acts I hereby promote you to the title of genin," said the hokage kindly. "Don't you agree Iruka?"

Iruka got over his shock and tossed his headband to Naruto with a proud smile. "I do indeed hokage-sama, welcome to the shinobi corps Naruto," stated Iruka kindly.

Naruto caught the headband and tied it to his forehead proudly, giving everyone his famous foxy grin. Then the boy did the most unexpected thing and tackled both Iruka and the hokage to the ground in massive bear hug.

"Ack! Naruto! Can't! Breathe!" gasped the hokage while Iruka just laughed along with Doku and Yoku at the blonde's antics. Naruto eventually let go of both men and gave them a sheepish grin.

"Right then, all of you be at the academy tomorrow for team placements, now since you're a genin Naruto I'll have to make some changes to the team rosters," sighed the hokage, mumbling about damned paperwork. Yoku tilted his head at the old man.

"Hokage-sama? May I ask you something?" asked Yoku. Surprised the hokage nodded at the boy. "Ano, why don't you just use shadow clones to do the paperwork?" asked Yoku politely.

The next thing Yoku knew he was in the most bone crushing bear hug he had ever felt. The embarrassing thing was that the old man was shaking him like a ragdoll while saying thank you over and over again with anime tears running down his cheeks. Eventually the hokage let him go and all five left the forest to get some rest for tomorrow.

_**The next day**_

All three boys were seated in the back row of the academy room. Iruka was listing off teams as he went but had yet to call any of the their names. Currently all three boys were sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting desperately for their names to be called.

"Finally team 7 will consist of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno-" here he was interrupted by a shout of joy from Sakura. Clearing his throat he continued "Naruto Uzumaki and Yoku and Doku Tsuuro, your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake," finished the chuunin.

"Wait a minute why do they have five members AND Sasuke-kun?" shouted out Ino, a platinum blonde haired girl in purple with her headband around her slim waist, indignantly to the instructor. She was met with murmurs of agreement.

"The hokage was the one who made these rosters, so if you have a problem take it up with him," Iruka sighed. After last night he was looking forward to the break he'd get before the next batch of genin came in.

"Right then, your senseis should be coming to get you at any moment now, so good luck everyone," with that Iruka left.

Soon the room was vacant except for team 7. Currently all 5 were doing something to occupy their time. Sakura pestered Sasuke for a date while he brooded. Yoku was sitting in a chair reading his archery scroll, while Doku threw a ball against the wall in boredom. Naruto was busy setting something up at the door.

Curious, Yoku peered at Naruto from over his scroll. "Naruto what are you doing?" inquired the archer. Naruto had currently wedged an eraser in the door so that when it slid open, it would fall onto their sensei's head when he walked through.

"Oh just setting up a prank to teach the last bastard that its not good to keep his new team waiting," the blonde smiled cheekily. The blonde was crouched next to the door doing something that only Doku and Yoku seemed to notice.

"Hmph, as if a jounin would fall for such an obvious trap," the Uchiha grunted.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke," the blonde said chiding the raven haired boy teasingly, "Instead of trying to explain something to you that you will most likely ignore, just watch and learn," Naruto replied, before sitting next to Yoku, waiting for Kakashi to arrive.

He did not have to wait long for soon the door opened and a man with silver hair that defied gravity appeared wearing standard jounin gear, gloves with metal plates on the back, a facemask and his headband tilted so that only his right eye could be seen. Kakashi easily dodged the eraser and gave the new genin a lazy look.

"Did you really thi-" he was cut off when he noticed that his foot had tripped a wire. Before he could react he was hanging upside down by his right leg. Doku laughed at his sensei's predicament while Yoku just smirked.

"Ok my first impression of you all is that I hate you," stated the silver haired nin, deciding to rest his upside down gaze on Naruto who just gave him a foxy smile. "Meet me on the roof for introductions," with that the jounin disappeared while the five genin walked to the roof.

All of them were now seated around their sensei who was leaning against a railing. "Ok, now that we'll be working together tell me about yourselves," said the one eyed nin.

"Um how about you go first sensei so we have an idea," suggested Sakura.

"Fine, my name is Kakashi Hatake, I like things and I dislike things my dreams and hobbies… none of your business," he finished with an eye smile. His students just sweatdropped at his introduction. Doku grumbled, "All we learned was his name,"

"You're up pinky," said the lazy man, pointing at a somewhat offended Sakura.

"My name is Sakura Haruno and I like… my hobbies are… and dreams for the future…" every time she paused she would blush and glance at Sasuke.

"Any dislikes?" sighed Kakashi _'Great I've got a fan-girl'_ he thought

"Ino-pig, Ero-Doku and Naruto-baka!" she shouted shooting a very angry glare at Doku. The boy in question just wiggled his eyebrows at her with a grin.

"Ok then, how bout you go muscles?" prompted the man to Doku.

"My name is Doku Tsuuro, my likes include my brothers Yoku and Naruto, hand to hand combat, girls, spars and training my body. My dislikes include people who think they're better than someone, cowards and people who think they should get everything handed to them on a silver platter for no reason. Don't really have a hobby and my dream is to fight Tsunade Senju in hand to hand combat!" declared the boy.

'_Interesting dream'_ "Right you're up broody," Hatake gestured to the brooding Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I have no likes and many dislikes. My hobby is getting stronger and my dream, no, my ambition is to revive my clan and kill a certain man," stated the last Uchiha. Sakura was looking at him in awe.

"Right, you're up grey eyes," Kakashi said gesturing towards Yoku.

"Hai, my name is Yoku Tsuuro, I like my brothers, archery and strategies. My dislikes are ignorant people and those who treat others as inferior for whatever reason. My hobby would probably be studying medicine, studying the human body along with practicing my accuracy with both thrown weapons and my bow. My dream is to be a good shinobi and protect my precious people," stated Yoku politely.

"Looks like you're the last one whiskers," Kakashi said with an eye smile towards Naruto.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, I like my brothers, ramen, foxes, hunting and the outdoors. My dislikes are those who kill animals for fun, ignorant people, and the time it takes to make ramen. My hobbies are roaming forests and pranks, I guess, and my dream is to become a great shinobi maybe even the hokage if I get offered the position," finished Naruto with a grin.

'_Ok so I have a brooding avenger and his fan girl, a muscle bound boy who loves fighting, a prankster who acts like a fox, and a polite genius.'_ Thought Kakashi "Right then meet me at training ground 7 tomorrow at 6 a.m for training and a test, also try to skip breakfast unless you want to puke," with that Kakashi gave them an eye smile and vanished before his students could protest.

A wind blew as all five genin just sat there each wondering just how bad could their training be if it would make them puke. Each genin were thinking about tomorrow and their sensei.

'_Puke? How bad is this guy's training'_ thought a worried Sakura.

'_This guy could give me the power I need to beat Itachi'_ Sasuke mused.

'_Hmm, most likely this has something to do with the REAL genin test, I won't know until tomorrow, I suppose I'll just have to wait'_ concluded Yoku.

'_This is going to be fun… Maybe I should get _them_ ready' _thought Doku with a grin.

'_Hmm… something was off about that guy, I know for a fact he was lying by telling us we could puke'_ Naruto smirked.

After a while all five left for their homes. Doku, Naruto, and Yoku were walking home when Naruto stopped. Curious the twins stared at their blonde friend.

"Hey guys I'm gonna sleep in the forest tonight," stated Naruto.

The boys nodded and continued towards their shared apartment. It wasn't unusual for Naruto to sleep in the forest. The blonde would always say that sometimes he just needed to sleep out in the wild. When asked why he just said it felt natural. The Tsuuro brothers knew Naruto would find them easily with his nose.

Racing off our blonde hero headed towards the training ground where his team would be meeting. Once he arrived he noticed that it was a clearing with a small river and surrounded by forest. There were three posts and a memorial stone with names of all sorts.

First Naruto did a quick check to see if anyone was nearby. After double-checking to make sure no one was around Naruto closed his eyes and meditated, using the technique Kyuubi had taught him.

Slowly he felt the changes. He felt his nails harden and his hands shrink. Slowly he felt a falling sensation and dropped down on all fours, a feeling of warmth shooting all along his body and the sensation of something erupting from his lower back, but not in an unpleasant way. Soon the fox like boy opened his eyes and raced into the forest in search of a place to sleep and some prey.

_**The next day**_

It was a beautiful morning with the sun just starting to peek over the horizon. The animals were starting to awake and the birds were beginning to sing. It promised to be a beautiful day, but the beauty was lost upon one Sakura Haruno as she stumbled into the forest clearing.

Soon an obviously annoyed and tired Sasuke, followed by Yoku and Doku who didn't seem to care that it was 6 a.m and they hadn't eaten, joined her.

"Morning Sakura-san, Sasuke-san," greeted Yoku with a polite smile, while Doku gave his usual lazy wave. All they got was a grunt from Sasuke and an amazed stare from Sakura.

"How are you guys not tired like Sasuke-kun and I? And where's Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Well to be honest, Doku, Naruto and myself are all used to waking up at this hour so it wasn't that big of a deal, also Doku and I had a very large dinner so we wouldn't be as hungry in the morning," explained Yoku simply.

Sasuke and Sakura both mentally slapped themselves for not thinking this, after all they were the top graduates in their class.

"So where is the dobe?" Sasuke asked, annoyed that he hadn't thought of eating more last night.

"Don't call Naruto a dobe! As for where he is we don't know, he said he wanted to sleep in the forest so he did, for all we know Naruto could be on the other side of the village," stated Doku, glaring at Sasuke.

"He's sleeping in the forest? Why on Earth would he want to do that?" screeched the pink haired girl.

"Because I like the feeling of sleeping out in the wild," stated a voice startling everyone.

They looked to see Naruto sitting in a tree with his sweatshirt acting like a pillow. He grinned his foxy grin and gave them a wave. Yoku gave him a warm smile while Doku returned the wave. Sasuke just glared at the blonde while Sakura wondered at how the blonde could be comfortable sleeping outside at night. The three genin then waited for their sensei to show up.

After an hour of waiting their sensei still hadn't shown up. Both Sakura and Sasuke were having trouble staying awake and their stomachs were growling. Yoku looked at them with pity. He went up to Doku and whispered something in his brother's ear. Doku nodded.

The Tsuuros then approached both Sasuke and Sakura with smiles on their faces. Before they could ask what was going on Yoku had finished doing some hand seals while Doku took out some food pills. Suddenly both Sakura and Sasuke hit the ground, out like a light.

"So what did you do to them?" asked Naruto trotting up to the twins. He noticed that Doku was making the unconscious forms of the Uchiha and Haruno swallow the pills he had produced earlier.

"I put them under a genjutsu that, when released, will have them fully awake. They really won't be any use if in their current state if this test is what I think it is," Yoku explained.

"And that test would be?" inquired Naruto.

"The genin test of course," Doku grunted standing up, "Yoku doesn't know what we'll have to do but he does know that it is very likely we could fail if none of us are at our best," explained the red eyed boy. Yoku nodded, confirming what his brother had said.

"So you knocked them out so they could get some rest and Doku gave them some food pills that should cure them of the worst of their hunger, though they'll still be a little peckish," summarized the blonde. Contrary to what his grades said Naruto was actually quite smart. How else could he make such great pranks and traps? Hell he was even a natural at fuinjutsu, something that even most jounin had trouble with.

"We'll wake them up in an hour. From what I learned, Kakashi is late for everything besides missions and orders to be somewhere by the hokage himself, also he has the nickname 'Copy Cat Ninja' I don't know why but I can only assume that Kakashi-sensei has a way of copying techniques," Yoku informed.

An hour later, Yoku broke the genjutsu and Sasuke and Sakura were awake, but they didn't seem to remember being put to sleep. At the moment all five genin were doing something to occupy their time until their ever-tardy sensei arrived.

Yoku was inspecting his bow for any damage and testing the string to make sure it wasn't loose. Doku was punching the air, practicing his taijutsu. Naruto occupied his time by inspecting the clearing, sniffing at the trees and air. That was until he decided to chase after falling leaves. Sakura was trying to get Sasuke to talk while the brooding avenger just sat there and, well, brooded.

After three hours of waiting a sudden poof of smoke heralded the arrival of Kakashi Hatake. "Yo," he said with an eye smile. "YOU'RE LATE!" screeched Sakura. "Sorry I got lost on the road of life," Kakashi responded. His students just sweatdropped at his excuse.

"Anyway it's time I told you what this test is about," stated Kakashi, earning the undivided attention of his students. "This test will determine if you are to become genin, and before you protest the genin exam you took was to weed out those who had potential to be shinobi and those who didn't," Kakashi explained. "Now this test has a 66% failure rate, meaning that only a third of you will pass this test." This was met with shock from all the genins.

The one eyed jounin then produced two silver bells. "Now all you have to do to pass is get one of these bells from me. Those who don't have a bell by noon will fail and be sent back to the academy," said the man with an eye smile.

"But sensei, there are only two bells," said a confused Sakura.

"Correct, that means at least three of you will be sent back to the academy," the genin all took on determined looks at this "You have until noon to get one and if you want a bell come at me with the intent to kill, the test begins… NOW," the jounin announced right after he hit the start button on a timer.

Immediately the five genin vanished and hid them selves in the surrounding foliage. Yoku watched his sensei closely, his mind a torrent of thoughts.

'_This doesn't make sense, there have always been 4 man cells, three genin and one jounin sensei'_ thought Yoku _'It would make more sense if there were three bells, at least then two genin would fail but the cell would still consist of four members'_ the grey eyed boy sighed in frustration. Then he felt someone leap next to him, but he didn't panic.

"So what do you think bro?" Doku asked keeping his eye on Kakashi who had yet to move.

"It doesn't make sense, there have always been four man cells not three," Yoku said to his twin.

"Well there haven't been 6 man cells either," Doku pointed out.

"Yes, but there are only TWO bells. It would make more sense if there were three bells, the only thing I can assume is that Kakashi made this test to put us against each other," reasoned the archer.

"Why?" asked Doku.

"He wants us to attack him on our own, at least that's what it seems like," Yoku explained.

Doku snorted, "That's stupid, none of us could take on a jounin by ourselves, not even Naruto and he has a freakin demon sealed inside of him,"

Yoku's eyes widened in realization "Of course! Doku we need to find the others, the only way to get those bells is to work together. I'm almost positive this is what the test is about," he explained excitedly to his brother.

"Hmm, ok but first let's see what our sensei is capable of," said Doku with a devil may care grin. With that he leaped into the clearing and charged his sensei.

Doku cleared the distance and swung at Kakashi with a right hook aimed for his head. The jounin caught his fist and was surprised at the power. Kakashi had easily slid back several inches. Quickly he threw the attacking genin away.

Doku landed on his feet a few feet away and was about to charge again when his instincts told him to halt. The boy stopped and stared at his sensei while the man reached into his back pouch. He immediately readied himself for anything his sensei might throw at him.

To his surprise and confusion Kakashi just pulled out a little orange book and was now reading it. Curious the boy dropped his stance and cocked his head to the side at the masked man.

"Um sensei? Why are you reading a book?" asked a confused Doku.

"I want to know what happens next," Kakashi said simply.

Curious Doku walked over to his sensei and peered over Kakashi's shoulder to read the book. Now it was the silver haired man's turn to be confused.

"Shouldn't you be attacking me?" he asked the savage looking boy.

"I will, but first I want to see what book you're reading. Must be interesting if you carry it with you all the time," Doku explained

Soon both males were reading the book and giggling in a perverted way. Later, Doku tapped his sensei on the shoulder. Curious the jonin looked to see a fist coming straight at him.

Surprised the jounin caught the fist and was once again pushed back by the power behind the punch. Doku followed up his attack with a barrage of fists that had Kakashi blocking and dodging. One hit however got through and landed a solid blow to the one eyed man's chest.

The silver haired man flew through the air on a collision course with a tree. Before he hit though, a log replaced Kakashi and shattered against the tree.

Nodding as if satisfied, Doku leapt back towards his brothers hiding spot. Kakashi appeared in the clearing once again only this time his book was gone and he was holding his side.

'_That kids punches are almost as strong as Gai's. I think he actually bruised several of my ribs' _Kakashi mused. _'I wonder what my other students are capable of?'_ with that Kakashi leapt off into the forest, curious to find out how good his students were.

Meanwhile the Tsuuro brothers were trying to find their blonde friend. It was proving to be quite difficult since Naruto was somewhat a master of stealth; he had to be in order to pull off some of his best pranks and avoid ANBU afterwards.

"Man where the where the heck is he?" Doku wondered.

"Where's who?" asked a voice

Doku jumped a bit and Naruto appeared from a bush. "Hey guys," he said cheerfully, "I assume you're looking for me right?" he asked.

Yoku nodded, "We need to get Sasuke and Sakura as well, after watching Doku fight Kakashi I can safely say that its going to take all of us to get those bells," the grey eyed boy explained to Naruto.

"I figured as much, Kakashi is an ex-ANBU and the only one besides Iruka to find me after some of my better pranks," Naruto stated.

"So what have you been doing?" Doku asked.

"Sensei has a pretty good nose for tracking scents so I've been wandering all over the forest leaving my scent trail everywhere so it would be hard for him to find me," explained the blonde, "In any case lets see if we can find Sasuke and Sakura,"

Just as he finished talking, a scream tore through the air hammering on the boys ears quite painfully, "Speak of the banshee," muttered Doku annoyed. The three leapt off to find the source of the scream.

The boys soon found both of their teammates in a small clearing some meters away from their original starting point. Sakura was a blubbering mess due to her infatuation's current position. Sasuke was nothing but a growling head on the ground; the rest of his body was trapped underground. Needless to say all three boys found this pretty amusing.

"Relax Sakura, Sasuke is fine he's just stuck underground," Yoku reassured the pink haired girl. "Besides I have an idea on how we can get those bells,"at this the girl ceased her blubbering and stared at Yoku curiously.

"As if I need your help!" snapped the trapped Uchiha, "I touched those bells and next time I'll get them, so just stay out of my way," Sasuke said. He was pissed that he had been trapped.

"And you plan on getting that bell how? You're nothing but a head who could be mistaken for a black duck ass from behind," teased Naruto, eliciting a growl from the raven-haired boy.

"He's right Sasuke, I'm not helping you unless you agree to helping us," Doku said.

"I told you I don't need your help! I need to get one of those bells and I can't afford to fail!" Sasuke growled.

"Look Sasuke you can have one of the bells if you want one so bad, but its obvious that you need our help in getting out of there," Yoku stated firmly.

The brooding teen grumbled to himself for a minute before grunting "Fine, I'll help you but one of those bells is mine," with that he gave a glare to Yoku.

Yoku nodded at the boy then gave Doku an expectant look. Doku grinned and plunged his fist into the earth in front of Sasuke. Before the Uchiha could say anything he was ripped from the ground in one powerful motion with Doku gripping onto the front of Sasuke's shirt. The red-eyed boy then dropped the Uchiha and walked over to his brother.

"Right then, here's my plan," Yoku then proceeded to explain his plan on how to get the bells.

Kakashi Hatake was once again waiting in the main clearing with his book out. Though he wasn't really reading it. Instead he was mulling over his students. _'I must say I'm disappointed in Sakura, she was said to be the smartest in her class yet she fell for a very simple genjutsu. Doku is incredibly powerful and his taijutsu is very good but he needs to work on his speed from what I saw. Sasuke lived up to his rookie of the year status but in the end he ended up losing. I know for a fact that Naruto has been hiding but I can't find him because his scent is all over the place, though I should expect a surprise from him any minute now. As for Yoku, the only thing I know about him is that he most likely attacks from a distance and is a strategist. If he can figure out the test and get the others to work with him then he should be able to make a good plan of action.' _Kakashi mused.

Suddenly from the trees burst over a hundred Narutos and all of them were charging straight for Kakashi. Snapping his book shut the one eyed jounin proceeded to defeat the clones one by one. Suddenly he jumped into the air and dodged a giant fireball that had been launched by Sasuke who had apparently been hiding with the clones.

While he was in the air he heard a faint whistling noise. Immediately he twisted his body to avoid the arrows shot at him. Both of them passed by his sides, the tips barely grazing his hips. Thinking the worst was over he prepared to land, though he was confused to what had happened to all the clones. Then he noticed the shadow above him.

Looking up he saw Doku plummeting towards him with his fist cocked back and giant smile on his face. Before Doku landed, one word went through the lazy man's mind.

'_Shit'_

"Eat this sensei! Yoku Doku Tag Team Attack: Meteor Fist!" the red eyed boy roared. With that he slammed his fist towards his sensei and there was a giant BOOM that sent dust and debris everywhere. When the dust cleared it showed Doku in a large crater with his fist in the ground. Suddenly a buzzer went off signaling the end of the test.

"Very good all of you but unfortunately it seems none of you got a bell," Kakashi said as his students appeared in front of him, but instead of looks of defeat or anger, all of them were wearing giant grins except for Sasuke who had a victorious smirk. "Hm? Why are you all smiling?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura and Sasuke proceed to produce a bell each from their pockets. Kakashi's eye widened and he checked his belt where he had stored the bells on his side. Sure enough they were gone.

"Very good, but how did you get them?" asked an intrigued Hatake.

"It was Yoku's plan sensei," spoke up Sakura, "He had Naruto make a ton of clones then have Sasuke-kun henge himself as Naruto so you'd think it was only another clone. Once you started fighting the clones, Sasuke made a fireball to hit you with," she explained happily.

"I figured you would jump into the air to avoid the fireball, where you would be an easy target for my arrows. So I fired them aiming for the string of the bells, only, one of the arrows was actually a transformed Doku," Yoku said with a proud light in his eyes.

"That's when we got the bells. Sakura dashed in and grabbed the fallen bells while you were busy staring at Doku," Naruto finished.

"Very good, so I am to assume that Sasuke and Sakura are going to stay while you three go back?" Kakashi asked _'A brilliant plan but now to see if they got the meaning of this test' _he thought.

All three boys nodded, but Sakura looked a little ashamed. "Wait sensei I want one of them to have my bell, they did most of the work I just grabbed the bells," she said. Sasuke just snorted at this. The black haired boy absolutely refused to give up his bell. Kakashi mentally sighed at this.

"Sakura you can keep it. All three of us refuse to leave the other behind, right guys?" Naruto said while both Tsuuros nodded in agreement.

"Well then I guess you three as well as Sasuke and Sakura," here he paused for dramatic effect. All three boys readied themselves for the worst while Sasuke and his fan-girl looked on in worried confusion. "Pass," said the silver haired man with an eye smile.

For a minute everyone was too stunned to speak. "NANI?" they all shouted at once, causing Kakashi to wince slightly.

"You all passed. This test was specifically designed to pit you all against each other despite the fact that you would need to work together," Kakashi explained "Remember this lesson and remember it well; those who break the rules are considered scum but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum," the masked nin explained sagely. His students nodded in understanding.

"Now how about we all go out to eat to celebrate?" their sensei suggested. This was meet with cheers and the newly passed team 7 went off to celebrate. Tomorrow they would start their careers as shinobi but today they would celebrate.

**A/N: YOSH! I am done with this chapter, which was particularly long, but I persevered and dug deep and ignited MY BURNING FLAMES OF YOUTH!**

"**YOSH! DANASCA YOUR FLAMES BURN BRIGHT WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH!"-Gai**

"**HAI GAI-SENSEI! IT IS MY DREAM TO BE AS YOUTHFUL AS YOU AND YOUR HANDSOME STUDENT LEE! IF I DON'T I WILL RUN AROUND THE VILLGA FIFTY TIMES ON MY HANDS!"-Danasca**

"**THAT'S THE SPIRIT!"-Gai**

"**GAI-SENSEI!"-Danasca**

"**DANASCA"-Gai**

**(Queue genjutsu and tearful hugging)**

**Anyway next chapter will begin the wave arc and during that mission Yoku will find something… interesting. Remember to R&R!**


	5. Land of Waves or bust

Konoha's Wild Warriors

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

Kakashi was sitting in a tree his gaze focused on a cat with a red ribbon tied around its ear. The cat was cautiously checking the area, as if it was being hunted. Kakashi touched a button on the radio set he was wearing and spoke.

"This is Scarecrow, are you in position around the target?" Kakashi spoke.

There was a crackling then a female voice spoke "This is Pink, I'm in position,"

Another voice spoke up "Arrow in position," the voice said calmly.

"Fist in position," growled out a voice.

"Hn. Raven in position," a voice grunted into Kakashi's ear.

There was a pause for a second. "Ok Fox is in place, the trap is set and ready," came a voice.

"Right. Team drive the target towards Fox's position," the one eyed man informed his team. He was met with a chorus of hais.

Suddenly Doku burst from the shade diving towards the cat. "I've got you now!" he shouted. Before he could grab his prey, the cat had clawed Doku's face and ran off.

The cat was then jumped by Sakura and Sasuke which forced the feline to change directions only to have to change directions once again to avoid capture by the hands of Yoku. It dashed off only to be caught in a cage that had dropped from the trees. Naruto appeared and took the cat out of the cage and begin petting it.

"This is Arrow, Tora has been captured… again," Yoku informed his sensei.

"Good job, lets head back to the hokage tower," crackled the voice of the lazy ninja into the ears of his students.

Later Team 7 was in the hokage tower watching as Tora the cat, was being hugged to death by the Fire Daimyo's wife. Doku was smirking in satisfaction while Sakura and Naruto looked at the cat in pity. Sasuke, Yoku and Kakashi seemed indifferent and were waiting for the Hokage's evaluation and orders.

"Good work, you caught Tora in record time," stated the old man kindly "Now, we have some D-ranks here for you," continued the old man pulling out a scroll. "You can weed the Yamanaka's garden, help some merchants take inventory or-" he was interrupted by a woman crying out "TORA!" "or you can catch Tora again," finished the old man.

"NO WAY IN HELL AM I CATCHING THT DAMNED CAT AGAIN!" shouted an enraged Doku. "I'm tired of these stupid D-rank missions! Isn't there something harder we could do?" whined the red eyed muscle builder.

"Show some respect to the hokage ero-baka!" shouted Sakura slamming her fist onto Doku's head. Though she had to admit these missions were becoming annoying. In fact all of Team 7 were quite tired of these missions.

"Doku you and your team are not ready for anything other than D-ranks!" Iruka, who had been helping with the mission briefings, lectured. He was about to begin lecturing the boy but he was interrupted by a polite cough from Yoku. Giving the boy a questioning look Yoku explained.

"Actually, Iruka sensei our team IS qualified for a C-rank," said the archer.

"Oh? And what makes you think this Yoku?" asked the Hokage. He was curious to hear the grey-eyed boys reasoning.

"Well Hokage-sama, you will find that with the completion of today's mission, the total number of completed D-ranks for team 7 is 25, the minimum amount of missions required for a C-rank," Yoku explained.

"True, but that doesn't necessarily mean your team is ready for a C-rank," Sarutobi responded.

"Hai but I have several reasons for why my team is qualified," stated the Tsuuro.

"Oh? What are they?" asked an intrigued Sarutobi.

"First, there are six of us, which is two more than the average cell so we have strength of numbers but not too many that our size would be a hindrance." He explained patiently "Second, our individual abilities and records. Sasuke is our class's rookie of the year and capable of performing the fireball jutsu. Sakura graduated from our class with the best grades. Doku is physically the strongest of Konoha's genin easily on par with Rock Lee. Naruto is quite adequate at stealth and traps as well as a survival expert both in towns and the wild," Yoku explained gesturing to each member as he went. "I myself have near pinpoint accuracy with shuriken, kunai, my own arrows and even senbon. Also I have been studying medical jutsus, healing herbs, poisons and antidotes. Finally my final and most convincing reason," Yoku said pausing for effect, "Is our sensei and former ANBU captain, Hatake Kakashi," finished Yoku.

"A very compelling argument Yoku, plus I do owe you for telling me the secret of how to defeat the scourge of leaders known as paperwork," smiled the old man while reaching into his desk. He pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Kakashi who caught it easily. "That scroll is a C-rank mission scroll," informed the Third, "You're mission will be to guard a man from bandits to his home country the Land of Waves," here the hokage pressed a button on his intercom, "Please send in the client," stated the old man.

Soon the door opened to reveal an old man in travel clothes with traditional Chinese hat. He had a grey beard and glasses with a bottle of sake in his hand. Naruto wrinkled his nose at the old man. Their client was obviously drunk.

"These are the ninja that will be guarding me?" slurred the old man "They all still look like they should be in diapers. The pink haired one probably can't even fight and the muscled wonder looks like he has the IQ level of a stump," the old man pronounced drunkenly.

Immediately both Sakura and Doku were trying to attack the old man. Kakashi was easily holding Sakura back, but Doku had to be stopped by both Naruto and Yoku, even that was proving to be a challenge.

"Doku, Sakura its not good for business to kill the client," Kakashi informed them lazily. Sakura calmed down but Doku was still trying to attack the old man.

"I'm not gonna kill the old man sensei! I'm gonna beat him into the dirt and shove that bottle of sake where the sun don't shine!" roared the boy.

"Naruto! Restraining seal!" Yoku grunted while pushing his brother back.

"Hai!" Naruto responded. The blonde then pulled out a tag with the kanji for restrain on it in black and slapped it onto the enraged youth's back. Immediately Doku slammed onto the ground as if bound by invisible ropes.

"Right then, Team I want you all to meet me and," he paused and shot the old man a questioning glance.

"The name's Tazuna," said the old man, shooting the now restrained Doku nervous glances.

"Right, meet me and Tazuna at the gates in one hour. Be packed with a week's worth of supplies," ordered the silver haired man. All the genin then left to pack for the trip.

Kakashi was waiting for his team at the gates with Tazuna when he saw a familiar blonde heading his way. Naruto waved to his sensei and took a seat on a bench. Kakashi was curious as to why his student didn't seem to have any traveling bags.

"Naruto, where are your traveling supplies?" Kakashi asked.

"All my food, weapons, and clothes are stored in these scrolls," the blonde responded producing scrolls each with the kanji for food, weapons, or clothes.

"And what about a sleeping bag?" inquired the ex-ANBU.

"Sensei this is the reason why I can survive in the forest without a tent, sleeping bag or food," Naruto said with a sly grin.

Before Kakashi could ask what he was talking about, but was stopped his student starting to shrink and grow fur. He watched amazed as Naruto grew fox ears and a tail while his face elongated into the face of a fox and his hands and feet changed to paws with claws. Soon standing before Kakashi was a golden fox kit with blue eyes and a white tipped tale.

"Thanks to my Tou-san I can transform into a fox except this is an actual transformation. The best part is that this is actually a bloodline!" explained the fox proudly, much to the amazement of both Tazuna and Kakashi.

"So you can turn into a fox kit?" asked Kakashi.

"Actually I can change both my size and physical fox appearance, meaning I can change my fur color and my size so that I'm as big as a horse," explained the blonde fox with a big grin.

"Impressive, does the hokage know about this?" asked the masked jounin.

"Um, well," here the fox known as Naruto stared at the ground and started drawing circles in it with his paws. "The only ones who know about this are you, Doku, and Yoku," explained Naruto. "The reason I haven't told him is because of two reasons, the first is because of my well you know," here he used his tail to gesture towards his stomach.

Kakashi looked at the fox kit before him with sympathy. He knew that the boy held the nine tails, as did every other jounin, ANBU, and everyone else who had lived through the Kyuubi attack. He was one of the few people who saw him as the container and not the demon sealed inside. Hell he had been one of the people to save Naruto from mobs whenever he could.

"And my second reason is the Clan Restoration Act," here Naruto got quiet. "The council would more than likely force the CRA on me and I really don't want to get married yet," stated the fox whose face fur had gotten somewhat red. _'That and my children would be seen as spawns of a demon and treat them little better than they treated me'_ thought the Uzumaki sadly.

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei!" called a voice, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts. It was Sakura and she was running to meet up with her sensei. It was then that her eyes spotted the fox kit form of Naruto. For a minute nothing happened, she just stared at Naruto.

Naruto on the other hand was experiencing a feeling of overwhelming dread, Even the Kyuubi noticed it and had come to investigate it by staring through his container's eyes. What he saw horrified him.

"**KIT! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" **the demon fox screamed.

"KAWAIII!" screamed Sakura and proceeded to crush the life out of Naruto in a giant hug. Tazuna and Kakashi just sweatdropped at the scene in front of them and gazed at the poor blonde fox in pity. Meanwhile Naruto was talking to the fox trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

'_Tou-san! What the hell just happened'_ asked a frantic Naruto.

"**Kit… I forgot to warn you that in your fox kit form you're…" **here the Kyuubi paused trying to find the best way to put it.

'_What? What is it about my fox form that would make Sakura act like this?'_ Naruto was panicking at this point fearing the worst.

"**You're cute," **said the demon in a deadpanned voice. **"Every female, demon, human or otherwise have a weakness for cute things. When the female comes into contact with something that is cute, they will proceed to scream 'kawai' and crush said object against their chest with the strength of a gorilla,"** explained the Kyuubi while shuddering. Sometimes it wasn't so bad but other times it just became terrifying.

There was a pause for a moment then, _'ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT EVERYTIME I TURN INTO A FOX KIT I'M IN DANGER OF BEING HUGGED TO DEATH?' the blonde mentally screamed._

This was the scene that Sasuke, Doku and Yoku walked in on. Yoku and Doku noticed the fox being hugged to death by Sakura and erupted into snorts of laughter. Curious Sakura ceased crushing the life out of Naruto and shot both boys a confused look.

"Nice work Sakura, you nearly killed Naruto. I'm sure if you had had bigger breasts Naruto would most likely be dead," Doku snickered.

"What are you talking about pervert? Naruto isn't even here," Sakura glared at the red-eyed boy as said male was struggling to breathe in between his laughter.

"Sakura," said a pitiful voice. The pink haired girl looked at the fox in her arms in surprise. "Please… please put me down," the fox begged pitifully.

Sakura screamed and threw poor Naruto away where said blonde proceeded to slam into the village gates. Slowly he fell back down due to gravity leaving behind an imprint of a fox in the wood.

"Pervert!" screamed the enraged kunochi genin. She was about to attack the fox Naruto again if said blonde fox hadn't jumped on top of Yoku's head. Sakura had to settle for just sending death glares at the fox-boy.

"Ok then let's head out," Kakashi said in a cheery voice. So began the mission to wave with Doku in front with Sasuke and Yoku flanking Tazuna's right and left while Kakashi and Sakura brought up the rear. The group had walked for several miles, passing the time by traveling and making small talk as they went. Sakura had asked about what wave was like which led to a discussion about how the nations worked and so on.

Naruto then started sniffing the air suspiciously from his position on Yoku's head. His heightened sense of smell had caught the scent of something unsettling.

He jumped down to Yoku's shoulder to tell the grey-eyed boy to get his opinion. Yoku stared at the fox on his shoulder questioningly.

"Yoku, I caught the scent of other people," Naruto informed. Yoku was skeptical and gestured to the fox that he was listening. Naruto wouldn't bother to whisper it into his ear if he didn't think there would be danger. "There are two of them, both male and a couple yards away. They smell like water, but with a more bloody tinge to it," Naruto informed his surrogate brother. "Also I think I smell poison," the blonde said in an alarmed whisper. "What do you think Yoku?"

"Tell Kakashi-sensei, then inform Doku, if we are attacked Doku needs to be prepared, for he may be the first to go down. Also tell Kakashi to move Sakura up to the center of the group to keep Tazuna safe," Yoku replied. He said it quietly and kept a calm air so it would seem nothing was wrong. Naruto nodded and leapt off of Yoku and up onto Kakashi's shoulder to relay the information and Yoku's suggestions.

"So, what should we do sensei?" asked Naruto from his perch on his sensei's shoulder.

"Alert Doku and I'll have Sakura move up. Keep one of tem alive for information," Kakashi ordered. Naruto nodded and informed Doku who just responded with a nod and gave Naruto a scratch behind the ears.

Soon the group came across a puddle in the road, something most people would ignore but Kakashi, the Tsuuro twins, and Naruto immediately tensed in preparation. Suddenly two men burst from the water wearing tattered cloaks, gasmasks, and camo pants. They had slashed Kiri headbands and large clawed gauntlets connected by a bladed chain.

They attacked Kakashi by wrapping their chain around him. "One down," said one of them. Both ninja then tugged and Kakashi was ripped apart, chunks of his flesh hitting the ground with dull thuds.

"Next one," rasped one of the nin as they charged Sakura and Tazuna. Before they could attack their chain was pinned to a tree by a kunai. Sasuke then appeared on the kunai handle and delivered a punch to one nin and a kick to the other, both landing a direct hit n the surprised Kiri nins' faces. The brothers released the chain and charged Sakura and Tazuna again.

Before they could attack, one brother was tackled to the ground by a fox the size of a full grown dog while the other one was sent flying by a sucker punch from Doku. The one who got hit by the fist flew through the air before colliding with a tree where he immediately blacked out.

Naruto was fighting the last remaining one and winning till the nuke-nin clawed his exposed side. With a yelp of pain, Naruto fell over and tried to get up but the wound prevented him.

"Say good night, Fido," announced the Kiri nin, raising his gauntlet for the killing blow. The blow never came because the nin suddenly sprouted two arrows form his neck. Turning his head the last thing he saw was Yoku's bow aimed at him and his eyes grey piercing eyes. With a gurgle the nin fell over dead.

Kakashi then appeared from nowhere much to the shock of Sakura and Tazuna. When asked what happened the lazy jounin said he wanted to see who the ninjas were after.

"Anyway, good work everyone, especially you Naruto," with that he turned to give every one of his students an eye smile. However his eye smile quickly turned to alarm when he heard the painful whimpers of a fox. Quickly he rushed over to Naruto, Doku and Yoku following closely behind. They inspected the three quickly healing gashes on Naruto's fox body and saw the purple liquid mingling with his blood. Everyone came to the same conclusion as to what the purple substance was; poison.

"Naruto!" shouted an alarmed Doku upon seeing his friend's condition. Yoku was already using his knowledge of medicine to further heal his friend and counteract the poisons. If Naruto hadn't been a jinchuuriki he would have been dead by now. As it was, the Kyuubi was already counteracting the worst of the poison's effects.

"So doc, how long do I got before they send me down the river?" Naruto asked Yoku jokingly, although it was an effort.

Yoku smiled at his blonde friend. "You're gonna be fine Naruto, but the poison is going to leave you partially paralyzed for the rest of the day," Yoku told him. Naruto nodded while Doku lifted him onto his shoulders.

"Right then, time to see what our friend knows," Kakashi said. Before he could begin Yoku was already reviving the man with smelling salts. The man woke up and found he was tied to a tree. Immediately Yoku jammed his finger onto a spot on the man's neck causing him to come fully awake. The pain he felt was so great that he couldn't even scream.

"At the moment I am touching a pressure point on your body that causes significant amounts of pain," Yoku explained calmly "If you don't want to experience this pain again you will answer all of my questions," he informed the nin coldly releasing some pressure so the man could talk but would still be uncomfortable. The man gasped for breath and nodded.

"You are Meizu, the younger brother of the demon brothers correct?" Yoku asked. The man nodded. "Who is your target? Remember if you decide not to tell me or lie, I will add more pressure to my finger and you will experience the pain from before," Yoku warned.

Meizu gulped, this guy may have been a kid but his eyes were those of a man who would lose no sleep from torturing and killing him. Those eyes terrified the remaining demon brother. "My target is the old man, the bridge builder," Meizu answered shakily.

"Who hired you?" Yoku demanded in a quiet voice.

"A business man named Gato, before you ask I don't know why," Meizu answered.

"Fine, did Gato hire anyone else?" asked the young Tsuuro.

" Yeah, he has hundreds of goons and thugs working for him as well as another missing nin," Meizu informed. The idea of experiencing that pain again had him singing like a canary.

"Who is the other missing nin?"

Meizu's reply caused Kakashi's and Yoku's eyes to widen in surprise. "Zabuza Mamochi, one of the seven swordsman and demon of the bloody mist," said Meizu.

Yoku nodded then placed his right index finger right between Meizu's eyes. "You have served your purpose, may the afterlife be kind to you," Yoku announced. With that he channeled a good amount of his chakra and quickly shut Meizu's mind down, immediately killing the demon brother.

Sakura, Sasuke, Tazuna and even Kakashi were shocked at what Yoku had done. Kakashi was surprised that Yoku had taken a life and seemed undisturbed about it. When he looked into Yoku's eyes again he saw grim acceptance, the kid knew what it meant to be a shinobi and had obviously come to terms with the fact. Kakashi looked over to Doku and saw the same thing.

'_I wonder what happened in these kids lives to make them accept this?' _Kakashi wondered.

"Why did you do that?" screeched a terrified Sakura. She knew that her career would involve fighting but she never expected something like this. Yoku looked uncomfortable with the questioning so

Doku answered for him.

"Sakura it's our job as shinobi to do what must be done so that our village will be safe and the mission completed," he answered in a grim voice. "All shinobi will be expected to take a life in their career, a sad fact that I honestly wish were otherwise but I won't lie to you. The life of a ninja is a hard one, especially for a kunochi," here Doku gave Sakura a hard stare.

Scared Sakura asked, "What do you mean especially for a kunochi?"

"I mean it is not uncommon for shinobi to be taken prisoner and interrogated for information like Yoku did," he paused for a second "Sakura, it is not uncommon for a kunochi to be raped on a mission, in fact there are missions where you will be asked to seduce a target to either get information or kill them," here Doku gave Sakura sad look. "Even if you think someone will always be there to protect you from everything I am here to kill those thoughts, you cannot, CANNOT! Count on someone else to save you," Doku gave her a very hard look. He knew that Sakura believed that her Sasuke-kun would protect her from everything and that was something that needed to be killed now.

Sakura was horrified to the point where she was nearly crying. She looked around her pleadingly and saw that everyone agreed with what Doku was saying. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked her voice shaking.

Doku sighed, "I'm telling you this because with the way you are now you are nothing but a liability and will more than likely be killed or worse you will be captured and forced into a life of slavery where you will be nothing more than an object of pleasure until you are no longer useable," at this Sakura was outright crying.

She didn't want to believe him, she wanted him to be wrong but she knew everything he said was true. She was about to lose herself to despair when she heard him speak again, but this time in a kinder voice. "However," she stopped crying and looked at him and was surprised at what she saw.

Doku was looking at her with kindness and confidence. "Now that I have told you this you know what you face and you can become stronger," he stated, "Yoku always says that knowing is half the battle, now that you know all you have to do is work to become strong and if you do that then you could become one of the greatest kunochi in the world and prove to everyone that you are more than qualified to be a shinobi," Doku finished his speech giving her a warm smile and his eyes brimming with confidence for his teammate. Sakura could not help the feeling of warmth she felt and she silently vowed to herself that she would become stronger.

Kakashi had watched all of this with pride. _'Doku you may not realize it, but you have just given Sakura a whole new perspective and attitude towards being a shinobi.' _He looked and saw how Sakura's eyes had a more determined glint in them. _'Lets just hope your speech has worked'_ thought the jounin. "Right then, Tazuna I believe you have some explaining to do," Kakashi said with a glare towards the old man, Doku who still had Naruto slung over his shoulder mimicked the glare .

Tazuna broke down and told them everything. He told them how Gato's shipping business was really a front for his more illegal actions. Apparently Gato was a smuggler of everything, from slaves to drugs to weapons and the land of waves was the perfect place for his base of operations. Being an island country, Wave had no shinobi and thrived off shipping goods. Gato was bleeding the country dry of all its money, leaving its people starving and poor, even the ruler of wave was poor!

"I knew Gato would send people after me so I wouldn't be able to complete the bridge but I didn't know he'd send nnja! Please you must help, I know a mission like this costs more but I don't have the money for anything higher than C-rank," Tazuna explained. "Please once the bridge is complete and trade is restored I'll pay you for an A-rank, I'll even throw in a bonus, just don't let my daughter and cute grandson die from starvation!" the old man begged.

"Well in a situation like this, I should terminate the mission, however I'll leave it for my team to decide," stated Kakashi.

"I say we help the old man, we still outnumber this Zabuza guy six to one, besides this Gato guy is nothing but a parasitic coward," Doku stated.

"If the baka is going, I'm going," stated Sasuke. Sakura nodded in agreement, not wanting to disappoint Sasuke or Doku.

"Sensei I believe we should go," stated Yoku, "Gato needs to be stopped and I cant leave this mission knowing that I could have helped save a nation from certain death,"

Naruto gave a weak grunt and waved his tail, showing that he was all for the mission, even though he had nearly been killed.

Kakashi gave Tazuna an eye-smile "It looks like we'll continue the mission, so lead the way Tazuna-san," Tazuna bowed in a grateful manner and led the way to wave.

**A/N: Annnd DONE! Next time Zabuza shall appear as will the lovely FEMALE Haku. I don't care what they say Haku is a girl! Also she'll have an interesting role in one of our hero's lives. Till next time remember to read and review.**


	6. Training and Meeting

Konoha's Wild Warriors

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

Team 7 had decided to camp in a clearing near the road that night so everyone could rest up from the attack from the demon brothers. Naruto had regained most of his mobility but his movements were a bit stiff and clumsy. Currently the team was sitting around a fire, eating some ration bars.

Kakashi looked at his team and cleared his throat to get their attention. "Since this mission is now an A-rank we'll have to be on higher alert, so Doku you'll take first watch, then Yoku and finally you Sasuke," Kakashi ordered his team. They nodded and turned in for the night leaving Doku sitting alone on a log with a sleeping fox Naruto curled up near the fire.

After about 30 minutes Doku heard someone approaching from the tents. He turned his head and was surprised to see Sakura walking towards him. She was dressed in some gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. She approached Doku's spot but stopped and looked at the ground in a hesitant manner. Doku just scooted over and patted the spot next to him. Slowly she sat next to him and just watched Naruto sleep.

After some time Doku spoke. "He's pretty cute when he sleeps in fox form isn't he?" asked the red-eyed boy to his teammate giving her a warm smile. She smiled and nodded in agreement. Some more time passed before Sakura decided to break the silence.

"Why?" she asked in a quiet voice, almost too quiet for Doku to hear.

"Why what?" asked the red-eyed boy, glancing at the girl from the corner of his eyes. He had several guesses to what she was asking but he wanted to be sure.

"Why did you tell me about all those dangers of being a shinobi?" she asked.

"Because you need to stop fantasizing about the Uchiha saving you and keeping you safe, you need to realize that no matter how much you wish it to be true, Sasuke will always see you as a fan-girl, no different from the rest," stated Doku in an even voice. "You need to realize that to Sasuke, you are nothing but another annoying fan-girl,"

Sakura stared at her lap and clenched her hands in frustration, she knew he was right, no matter how much she wished it were otherwise. "What if I became stronger?" she asked, a hint of hope in her voice.

Doku sighed and looked up into the night sky. "Sakura, listen and listen well," he started out calmly, "Sasuke is obsessed with getting strong, getting more powerful than his brother so he can eventually kill Itachi and avenge his clan," stated the brown haired boy firmly. "Every Uchiha in history has had an obsession with something, the most common thing being power," explained the boy, "Before you ask how I know, Yoku has been looking into the village clans for a while now and has been telling me of his discoveries," Doku said with a slight smirk tugging at his lips. Sakura just nodded, it sounded just like Yoku, the guy had this urge to learn as much as he could about damn near anything for some reason.

"From what I know Sasuke will completely ignore everything until his brother is dead, the question is how far will Sasuke go to complete that goal," Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment, as much as she liked the raven haired avenger she knew next to nothing about Sasuke personally. _'Maybe if I get strong enough I could help him' _she thought. She was about to voice her idea when Doku shook his head at her. "If you're thinking about helping Sasuke kill his brother. He'll say no, because he wants to kill Itachi on his own, but that won't stop him from seeking out powerful people and demand to be taught by them," Doku said firmly,

"Then what should I do?" Sakura asked.

"In all honesty Sakura? Get stronger and try to forget Sasuke," Doku said. Sakura looked downcast at this causing Doku to sigh and give her a pitiful look. _'She really needs to get over this guy, but it is her first crush so I might as well give her some hope' _mused the muscled Tsuuro. "Besides, if you stop fawning over Sasuke then you'll confuse him and he'll start to wonder why, you'll be on his mind whether he likes it or not," said Doku off handedly "And when he starts to talk to you play hard to get you know? Keep him guessing," Doku finished with a big grin.

Sakura smiled at this. The pink haired girl then got up and went back to her tent to sleep. Doku watched her go and gave a tired sigh. "I wonder if I did the right thing," Doku mused out loud.

"Hard to say, only time will tell," stated a familiar voice. Slightly surprised Doku looked down to see Naruto had one blue fox eye focused on him.

"How long have you been up?" Doku asked the fox.

"I woke up around the time she asked you why," stated Naruto, once again closing his eye. "I wonder though, why did you tell her to play hard to get?" asked the blonde fox.

Doku hesitated for half a second, something Naruto noticed "It will probably distance herself from Sasuke and she'll get stronger, but she'll still be able hang on to the hope that Sasuke will be hers," Doku stated simply.

Naruto just grunted in response. The Uzumaki knew his brother was hiding something but it was obvious Doku wouldn't talk about it, not yet at least.

**Following morning**

The night passed with little event and Team 7 and Tazuna were on the road once more. The bridge builder had told them that they'd be taking a boat to get to wave. Doku had visibly tensed at this and a look of fear flashed across his eyes. The only ones who seemed to notice his reaction though were Yoku, Naruto, and, oddly enough, Sakura.

The group was now on board two boats, Yoku, Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi on one, and Sakura, Tazuna and a very uncomfortable Doku on the other. Halfway across the boat drivers killed the motors on the boats much to Doku's dismay.

"Why'd you turn off the motor?" Doku asked in a voice of rising panic.

"We're getting close to Wave and we don't want anyone of Gato's men to hear us," the boat driver hissed.

Doku just tensed even more and darted his eyes from side to side like a cornered animal searching for a way out. Sakura looked at her teammate in worry, she wondered what was making the boy act like this.

"Doku?" she asked quietly reaching out a hand and placing it on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. The red-eyed boy practically jumped and caused the boat to rock back and forth violently.

"Oi! Calm down you baka or you're going to capsize us," the ferryman hissed in an annoyed tone at the boy. Tazuna gave the boy a curious stare. Even the other boat noticed this and it made Naruto and Yoku visibly tense in worry, much to the surprise of Kakashi.

"Doku what's wrong?" Sakura asked, she was very concerned for the boy now.

"Just get me back on land," Doku replied in a whimper. Sakura was now afraid for the boy. _'Whats wrong with him? Is he afraid of the water or something?' _she thought. She dismissed the idea that Doku was afraid of water. The boy never seemed to be scared of anything, what with his reckless attitude and seeming love of danger.

Soon the boat docked and Doku leaped onto shore, desperate to get off the boat. Everyone stared at the boy in surprise except for Yoku and Naruto who went over and helped the boy to his feet. Doku had collapsed and curled himself into the fetal position as soon as he was a good distance from the water.

Sakura went up to Yoku and pulled him away from the rest of the group, intent on getting some answers. At first Yoku was surprised at the pinkette's actions, but guessed that she wanted to know why Doku was acting so strangely.

"Yoku, what's wrong with Doku?" Sakura practically demanded, concern lacing her every word.

Yoku sighed and wondered if he should tell. _'They're going to find out sooner or later' _a voice said in the grey-eyed boy's head. Yoku sighed and gave Sakura a serious look. "Sakura if I tell you, you must promise that no matter what, you will not tell anyone else about this," said the boy in a hard voice.

Sakura nodded and Yoku seemed to relax a little. "Sakura do you know how the villagers dislike Naruto, Doku and I?" asked the archer quietly.

Sakura hesitated for a moment. She thought about it and realized that whenever she saw the three boys in public they seemed to get glares from everyone, though the majority seemed directed more towards Naruto. She nodded at the boy, saying she did.

"The reasons why the villagers dislike us cannot be revealed by me Sakura so don't ask me why, that's for Naruto to tell," stated Yoku seriously. Sakura nodded urging him to continue. "Sometimes the villagers dislike of us causes them to do… rash things," the brown haired boy said hesitantly.

"Rash things?" asked the girl confused.

Yoku nodded, "Yes, sometimes the villagers will attack us or they used to before we became shinobi," informed the Tsuuro seriously. Sakura got a shocked look on her face but she couldn't detect any lies from him. Ignoring her look Yoku continued, "One day, about 4 years ago when we were 8, a mob attacked us," stated Yoku "The mob caught us and bound our legs and feet together and proceed to carry us to a lake, once there the mob tossed all three of us into the lake with several rocks tied to our feet," Yoku said evenly, seemingly ignoring Sakura's horrified look.

"Naruto and I were rescued almost immediately by passing ANBU but Doku sank almost to the very bottom of the lake before he was rescued," Yoku informed her grimly, "Ever since that day Doku has been terrified of large bodies of water, lakes, rivers even streams that are deeper than 3 feet scare him, he even hates the rain and standing on bridges, not to mention the hot springs," Yoku told her.

"Wait I've seen Yoku at the hot springs before peeping on girls and we always meet on a bridge," Sakura stated, slightly confused.

"Yes but if you would notice Doku never actually stands on the bridge and he never gets _in _the hot springs because he's afraid he'll get too relaxed, fall asleep, and drown," Yoku said seriously. Sakura would probably have laughed if Doku's fear had not stemmed from such a horrible experience but instead she just looked over Yoku's shoulder and gave Doku a pitied stare. No child should ever have to experience something like that.

The group was now on a well-worn path when Naruto threw a kunai into the bushes. When the ninja went to investigate they saw a scared stiff white rabbit with a kunai just inches from its head. "What's the matter dobe? Scared of a little rabbit?" Sasuke mocked the blonde. Sakura started yelling at Naruto about attacking innocent animals, while Tazuna and Doku just looked on in confusion.

Yoku, Naruto and Kakashi on the other hand were ignoring them as they all thought the same thing. _'It's spring that rabbit should have brown fur, not winter white, unless of course it was raised inside'_ thought all three. Suddenly, all three men's eyes widened in realization and worry, but one for different reasons than the other two males.

Kakashi and Yoku realized that the only reason for a white rabbit to be out here was for a substitution technique, while Naruto heard the grunt of someone throwing something and the whistling of metal flying through the air with his heightened hearing. "GET DOWN!" shouted Kakashi dragging Tazuna with him as everyone hit the dirt. It was just in time, for a giant sword flew through the air and lodged itself in a tree.

"Well, well, well if it ain't Kakashi Hatake," said a gruff voice. Team 7 and co. looked up to see a man wearing bandages all around the lower half of his face, no shirt, grey and white camo styled pants and arm warmers and standard shinobi sandals standing on the handle of a zanbato. His headband was on the side of his head but they could easily see the slash through the Kiri symbol on the headband.

"Zabuza Mamochi, one of the seven swordsman of the hidden mist and nick named Demon of the Bloody Mist," Kakashi said his hand reaching for his own headband.

"Hand over the old man and I won't kill you or the brats," stated Zabuza.

"Not a chance," replied the jounin. He lifted his headband to reveal his left eye, a fully developed Sharingan. Needless to say the team was a bit stunned. Sasuke was especially surprised to see someone other than an Uchiha with a sharingan.

"Fine then, Hidden Mist Jutsu" declared the eyebrow less missing nin. Immediately the entire area was covered in a thick mist. Slowly the genin and jounin started to feel the killing intent as Zabuza's disembodied voice proceeded to point out the eight points on the human body, perfect for instant kills.

Immediately Doku's strange battle senses kicked in, quickly erasing the effects of the killing intent. Naruto tensed up a bit, but the blonde had felt killing intent on many occasions and wasn't too affected. Yoku and Sasuke were having trouble and they started to shake, Sasuke even started to raise his kunai, intent on ending his own life before Zabuza could. Sakura was just scared stiff, too terrified to do anything but look everywhere for some escape route.

"All of you calm down," stated Kakashi. He turned around and gave them a reassuring eye smile "I don't let my comrades die," stated the ex-ANBU. Sasuke and Yoku relaxed, but Sakura was still a little afraid.

"Chill Sakura, even if that no brow freak gets past Kakashi he still has to go through the mighty wall known as Doku Tsuuro," Doku said shooting her a smirk and confident look. Sakura relaxed some more and took up a defensive stance.

"Big talk kid," said a voice, "Lets see what you got!" with that Zabuza appeared directly behind the genin and swung his blade intent on cleaving Doku in two. He was surprised to find that the metal plate on the back of Kakashi's right glove had stopped his blade.

The two launched themselves away from each other and began attacking each at speeds that surprisingly only Yoku could follow, while the others had to rely on the sparks created by the clashing metal of the ninja's weapons to find them. The two suddenly appeared standing on top of a lake and doing a long string of hand seals. Yoku could see that the two were doing the exact same seals at the exact same time; the entire process was utterly fascinating for the grey-eyed boy. _'Is this the power of the Sharingan?'_ thought the amazed teen.

"Water style: Water Dragon jutsu!" shouted both men. Two dragons made of water appeared with glowing red eyes and began to fight each other. The struggle for power ended when both dragons burst in a watery explosion. When the water settled the genin saw their sensei trapped in a sphere of swirling water.

"Guys run! You can't beat this guy!" shouted Kakashi to his students. Zabuza seemed surprised at this.

"No ay sensei! You told us to never abandon our comrades so we're not abandoning you!" Naruto shouted. Though something was troubling the blonde. The entire time he had detected a second scent of another person nearby. It was a female but she had yet to do anything, and Naruto hoped she wouldn't act soon.

"You brats just don't know when to give up do you?" mocked Zabuza. He made half-tora seal and immediately several water clones of the swordsmen appeared and launched themselves at the genin.

"Naruto, Sasuke stop them, Doku give me a boost!" Yoku barked. Immediately the Raven-haired boy and blonde went to work at defeating the water clones. Doku lifted his brother onto his shoulders while Yoku took aim from his perch with his bow and arrow. Yoku quickly loosed several arrows at the Kiri nuke-nin followed by several kunai and shuriken for good measure.

Seeing the oncoming danger, Zabuza released the technique on Kakashi and cut the chakra off from his feet. The bandaged man sank into the water, with the projectiles passing by harmlessly, however the swordsman figured out the projectiles were the least of his problems as Kakashi was staring right at him and finishing a string of seals.

Immediately a powerful blast of swirling water lifted Zabuza out of the water and rammed him into a tree. The water kept up its attack before it disappeared leaving behind a battered and beaten Zabuza. The swordsman watched as Kakashi approached him with a kunai drawn and a grim look in his eyes.

"That eye… can it see the future?" Zabuza asked in a quiet voice.

Kakashi raised his kunai and responded, "Yes, and you future Zabuza… is death," Before the kunai could connect two senbon appeared in Zabuza's neck, making him slump to the ground.

"You were right, his future was death," said a voice. Everyone turned to see a figure in a brown battle kimono, with samurai sandals and long black hair that framed a masked face and reached the small of her back. The person had on a hunter nin mask with the Kiri symbol on the forehead. Naruto recognized the scent as the one he had smelled earlier but he could smell the lie she was telling. He knew that she was lying about Zabuza, but was confused because he couldn't hear Zabuza's pulse or any breathing.

"A hunter nin I presume?" asked Yoku, approaching the girl.

"Yes I have been following this ninja for several miles trying to find a way to attack. Thanks to you I was able to kill the man," responded the girl in a polite voice, reminiscent of Yoku's own polite voice but her's was lighter and fairer. "Now if you'll excuse me I must dispose of the body,"

With that she left via shushin with the 'corpse' of Zabuza. "Good work team," stated Kakashi. He started to approach them but fell flat on his face. Or he would have had Doku not caught him. "Tazuna how far to the house?" Doku asked as he shifted Kakashi's body to carry him piggyback style.

"About a mile from here," stated the bridge builder. Doku gestured for him to lead the way. Tazuna nodded.

As they walked Yoku decided to see what was wrong with Kakashi. Doing some hand seals for a diagnostic jutsu he had read about, Yoku proceeded to check his sensei with a faint green glow over his hands. The feedback he received told the gray-eyed boy that Kakashi was suffering from chakra exhaustion. Confused the boy looked to see Kakashi was awake and giving him a curious stare.

"It looks like you have chakra exhaustion sensei," Yoku said in a confused voice. While he guessed that Kakashi used a good amount of chakra, the jounin's reserves should have held out longer than this. "Though I find it strange you are out of chakra," stated the boy.

Kakashi eye-smiled and decided to explain. "The sharingan requires a constant flow of chakra and I had to use chakra to keep myself on the water and keep myself from drowning in Zabuza's water prison," explained the man, "Couple that with the two A-ranked jutsus I used, it's really no wonder I'm exhausted," Yoku nodded in understanding.

"In any event sensei, you should be able to move by tomorrow but you'll need crutches, but you should be at full power before the end of the week, which is good because I'm positive Zabuza isn't dead," Yoku informed. Kakashi's eyes widened and he was about to ask the boy when he realized they had reached their destination, He decided to wait till later to ask.

"Here we are," stated Tazuna proudly. The team was standing in the front room of a small two-storied house; the first floor seemed to mostly consist of a large dining room with a corner converted into a kitchen area with stairs leading up to the second floor.

"Hey! Tsunami, Inari come meet the super ninja who brought me home!" Tazuna shouted. A few minutes later a woman with long black hair in her late twenties to early thirties appeared wearing an apron and simple tan kimono.

"Dad!" she shouted and gave Tazuna a giant hug. She turned to the ninja and gave them a deep bow, "Thank you so much for protecting my father I'm deeply in debt to you as is my father," she stated politely.

"Eh it was nothing," stated Naruto "it's our job to help people, but if you could tell us where we could put our stuff and our sensei, that would be great," stated the blonde with a foxy grin.

"Of course, please follow me," stated Tsunami leading them upstairs. The stairs lead up to hallway with three doors on each side.

"The first door on the left is my room, then my dad's and the last one is Inari's room," she stated "The first two doors on the right are the guest rooms and the last one is the bathroom, so please make yourselves at home and dinner will start in an hour," stated the lady kindly.

Yoku bowed to the woman. "Thank you, Tsunami-chan, if you need us Doku, Kakashi, Sasuke and I will be sleeping in the first guest room, and Sakura shall be sleeping in the one nearest the bathroom," he informed politely.

Tsunami got a puzzled look, "But what of your blonde friend?"

Naruto smiled and just changed to his fox kit form. "Don't worry ma'am, if it's ok with you I'll be sleeping either downstairs or outside," the fox stated with a grin.

Tsunami nodded. Once she got over her surprise, the woman had to resist the urge to squeeze and cuddle the cute little blonde fox kit in front of her. Naruto noticed this and sighed.

"You want to hug me don't you?" the blonde stated in a deadpan. Tsunami nodded and started to poke her fingers together embarrassedly. "Go ahead," sighed the fox.

With a squeal of joy Tsunami scooped up the fox and hugged it to her chest before she started petting Naruto and making cooing noises too him. Doku and Kakashi snickered at this while Sakura had to remind herself that it was her teammate to keep from joining in. Sasuke and Yoku just grabbed their stuff and moved into the first room.

Later the team was at dinner eating peacefully with Tazuna and his family. Naruto was in his fox kit form and currently sitting in Tsunami's lap being petted and fed pieces of meat. Doku and Kakashi had finished their meal and were now reading Icha Icha, much to the annoyance of the girls. Sasuke was brooding while Yoku analyzed the very quiet and depressed Inari. Sakura just sat there sending glares towards her perverted sensei and teammate.

"Right then I guess I'll have to say it," Yoku stated politely. Everyone turned towards him with curious looks. "Zabuza isn't dead," he stated. The air in the room seemed to become heavier as everyone adopted worried, serious or fearful looks.

"But how? We saw him get hit in the neck with those senbon by that hunter-nin and you, Kakashi and even Naruto said he had no pulse!" Sakura practically screamed.

"True, but she was lying the entire time, plus isn't a hunter-nin supposed to dispose of the body on the spot?" stated Naruto from his position on Tsunami's lap.

"Correct Naruto, also she used senbon, a tool that when used with poison can be very deadly, but when on it's own its more used for incapacitation than killing, to kill with a senbon you need to use dozens at a time or have perfect aim," sated Kakashi.

"But wait how are you sure she was lying? And how do you know she was a she?" Sakura asked, looking for clarification.

"Each person has their own scent Sakura, and male and females have very distinct scent differences, Tou-san said it had something to do with pheromones," Naruto explained. "Also when ever a person lies they produce a smell that's unnatural,"

"Ok but are you positive Zabuza is alive?" Sakura asked, grasping at straws hoping the swordsman was dead.

"Yes," Yoku said grimly, "As you know there are pressure points all over the human body, and there are even pressure points that can cause a state of false death so long as pressure is added, however one cannot stay in a false state for longer than a couple seconds or they will experience paralysis on a somewhat extreme level for a period between one to several weeks if they do not have proper medical attention," The grey eyed boy explained.

"So, how long do you believe Zabuza will be immobilized for Yoku?" Doku asked his brother. Kakashi looked at the boy expectantly. _'If I had to guess I'd say we have a week'_ thought the masked ninja.

Yoku clasped his hands in front of him and closed his eyes. Without moving Yoku gave his answer. "If she removed the senbon as soon as she came out of shushin then a little over a week. Using the local herbs I'd say about six days and if ]he gets proper medical treatment he'd be moving in two days, though I doubt a man like Gato will let Zabuza have proper medical help due to the business man's greedy nature," he said thoughtfully while his brow furrowed.

Kakashi leaned back, "Tazuna when will the bridge be done?" asked the one-eyed man seriously.

"At this rate it will be done in two weeks," the bridge builder said in a solemn voice.

"Right then, tomorrow we step up you're training," Kakashi said to all of his students with an eye smile. His students all gave a chorus of hais and went to bed.

**Next day in a clearing**

Teams 7 were seen gathered in a clearing and were waiting patiently for Kakashi to explain his new training. "Today we will be doing two things," stated Kakashi while pulling out six pieces of paper. "This is chakra paper, and with it we're going to find out you're elemental affinities," stated the man handing each student a piece of paper.

Sasuke, Sakura and Doku were giving him suspicious and confused expressions while Yoku smirked. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and waited for his sensei to go on with his explanation.

"Um, sensei?" asked Sakura, "How are these pieces of paper going to help us find out our elemental affinities?"

"Simple really, just channel your chakra into these pieces of paper and the paper will crumple up if you have lightning, turn to dust if you have earth, turn to dust for fire, become wet for water and be cut in half for wind," said Kakashi. He demonstrated to them by channeling chakra into his paper. Kakashi's paper immediately crumpled up. "While I can do all sorts of jutsu it is easier for me to do lightning jutsus," explained the man with an eye smile.

Sakura went first, and to her surprise the paper turned to dust. Doku then went and got the same results as Sakura. "Looks like you two have earth affinities, here try to learn this jutsu when you get the chance," Kakashi said tossing a scroll towards the two. The two of them looked to see it was actually two jutsus called Earth Style: Earth Spear and Earth Style: Mud Overturn. The first was an offensive technique and the other was defensive.

Sasuke went next and half of his paper burned to ash while the other crumpled up. He smirked at this; no doubt quite pleased he had two affinities. "I expected you to have a fire element due to your clan but the lightning I didn't expect," Kakashi said to the boy, he was already thinking of a jutsu he could teach him. "Anyway Sasuke, you already have several fire jutsus and I don't have any lightning ones with me at the moment," Kakashi said to Sasuke in an apologetic voice. The Uchiha just grunted.

Yoku was up and his paper immediately cut into two, much to Yoku's surprise. "Interesting Yoku, you have a rare affinity that isn't commonly seen except inside Suna," said Kakashi tossing him a scroll. He looked inside to see a jutsu called Wind Style; Great Breakthrough. Yoku also noted that the jutsu could be used in varying degrees of power.

Naruto went last but the paper didn't crumble in to dust, crumple, burn, cut or get soaked. Instead the paper seemed to expand and swell with Naruto's chakra. Naruto seemed very surprised by this and asked the Kyuubi what was happening.

'_Hey Tou-san, what's going on?' _Naruto mentally asked.

"**I figured something like this would happen," **the fox said with a sigh.

'_What do you mean? Is it bad?'_ the blonde asked starting to panic.

"**Whoa, easy kit its nothing bad," **the fox reassured in a soothing tone **"You see, before I was sealed I didn't have any elemental affinities but I did have enough power to beat even the most powerful of element users," **the fox explained, **"Due to our chakra merging you have much more potent chakra and even greater reserves that will continue to grow over the years, however because of this it is hard to convert your regular chakra into elemental chakra in the same way it is hard for you to do a regular bunshin because,"**

'_So I can't do elemental jutsus?' _Naruto asked in a slightly downcast voice.

"**No, but it will take you a lot of training for you to do them and even then you'll need to put a lot of chakra into the techniques for them to work properly, but the sheer power will be great," **stated the fox.

"Yo, Naruto you ok?" asked Kakashi waving a hand in front the blonde's face. Naruto blinked and noticed that everyone was looking at him with concern (Kakashi and Sakura) or interest (Yoku, Doku and Sasuke)

"Yeah sensei I'm fine but I just remembered that Tou-san told me that due to my bloodline, I don't have any affinities, just really potent chakra," Naruto explained sheepishly.

"Hn. Not much of a bloodline then is it?" stated Sasuke in a superior voice. Naruto just rolled his eyes at the boy, not bothering to tell him what he could do with his chakra, which was pretty damn impressive.

"Now the next thing we are going to do is tree climbing," Kakashi said. Everyone looked puzzled by this. Naruto could hear some snickering in his head and had a sinking feeling that whatever was planned was going to hurt.

"Um, sensei how will climbing a tree help us?" asked a confused Sakura.

"I agree with Sakura, unless you're gonna add weights on us or something," Doku said. Currently the boy was wondering if he should start adding to his weight training.

"No I'm not going to do that Doku, but tell me can you climb a tree without using your hands?" asked the jounin. Everyone looked surprised at this, but shook their heads no. Such a feat is impossible, right? The laughter in Naruto's head seemed to get louder.

"Allow me to demonstrate," Kakashi said. The masked man approached a tree and proceeded to walk up it. The genin watched in amazement as Kakashi hung upside down from a tree branch. "This exercise is actually called tree walking or surface clinging and it will test your chakra control," the jounin said throwing kunai at his students' feet. "First concentrate chakra to your feet than try climbing the trees, go for a running start and use those to track your progress,"

They nodded and picked up the kunai. They concentrated for a moment before they ran at the trees except for Naruto who just approached the tree slowly and started walking, he made it about a fourth of the way before crashing into the ground painfully. Doku made it about five feet with a mixture of chakra and momentum before he plummeted to the earth, barely having enough time to make a mark on the bark before he crashed. Sasuke made it seven feet before he was thrown off the tree leaving a foot sized crater.

'_Dammit! Too little chakra and you fall right off and too much you push right off the tree, this is harder than I thought'_ the Uchiha mentally grumbled. He was interrupted by a shout from up above.

"Hey this is easy!" shouted Sakura sitting on a branch halfway up her tree. Yoku was also halfway up his tree as well.

"It seems the only female and Yoku are the ones with the best chakra control," Kakashi commented. _'It doesn't surprise me really, Sakura's are small enough that they would be easy to control and Yoku always seemed to have a knack for chakra control'_ he said mentally. Kakashi glanced at Naruto to see the boy was purposefully walking, making a little better progress as he went.

"Oi, Naruto!" yelled the silver haired man towards his student. Hearing his name Naruto leapt over to his teacher with a curious expression. "How come you're walking up the tree instead of running?" asked the man.

"Oh, well, Tou-san had me doing this exercise already so I could better control my chakra for my techniques," Naruto explained. "He said that in order for me to master this exercise I should start walking instead of running,"

"What are your techniques?" Kakashi asked.

The blonde smiled and raised his hand. After channeling some chakra to it. His hand was encased in a blue chakra shell with the fingers in the shape of claws. "My chakra is much more potent than another person's making it visible and able to act like armor or weapons," explained the Uzumaki. "Tou-san said it was something called chakra manipulation and that if I increased my control, then it would be easier to manipulate my chakra into more complex shapes and forms as well as making it stronger,"

Kakashi just nodded in amazement. "Impressive, so what can you do with your chakra?" he asked, eager to know what the blonde could do and wondering if he could copy the technique.

"Hmm, Tou-san said that I'll be able to fight close range by making claws and a cloak of armor, mid range by extending my chakra like a weapon or by making an extension of my arm and long range by making my chakra into projectiles," the blonde said with a thoughtful look, "At the moment I've almost mastered close range manipulation and am working on mid range, but I can't keep my chakra in a stable enough form to use it as a projectile,"

Kakashi's eyes looked like they would nearly pop out of his head. _'Holy crap! That's incredible!'_ he thought. Kakashi was determined now to meet Naruto's Tou-san.

**Three days later**

Team 7 was seated around the dining room table eating dinner with Tazuna's family. Currently the team was discussing how their training was going.

"So how are the jutsus working out for you guys?" asked Kakashi to his students. Kakashi had taught Naruto how to make his shadow clones into walking bombs.

"Its going good sensei!" Doku said pumping a fist in the air "I can already summon up to two rock spears at once and they can even pierce Naruto's chakra cloak and Sakura has gotten really good with that defensive jutsu you gave her." Sakura blushed at her teammate's praise.

"Yeah, I have found the wind jutsu you gave me to be quite useful for scattering projectiles, clearing smoke and if I focus it enough pushing people back a few feet if they are on the ground and sending them flying if they are in the air," Yoku said happily while Naruto winced at the memory. The blonde had landed in a thorn bush and had learned very quickly to never jump at Yoku unless he isn't expecting it.

"Why are you all trying so hard!" shouted Inari, finally fed up with the ninja. "Don't you know that you can't fight against Gato? He'll just kill you!"

"Inari-san trust me when I say we are more than capable of beating Gato and his men," stated Yoku, "We are more than enough to handle Gato's thugs and should Zabuza and his subordinate appear we easily outnumber him and we already have techniques to effectively counter his mist jutsu," finished the grey-eyed boy with a confident smile to the boy.

"It doesn't matter! Gato will kill you with his army! You guys have probably lived easy lives! You don't know what its like to suffer!" screamed the child.

Suddenly the air in the room dropped several degrees as an animalistic growl could be heard and killing intent could be felt. Everyone turned to see Naruto glaring at Inari with contempt on his face. "Let me tell you a little bit about suffering, brat," Naruto growled out quietly, "At the age of three I was kicked out of the orphanage and not a day later I was attacked by a mob, every year for my birthday I got beat within an inch of my life or I spent it hiding in the forest in fear of being found," the blonde's voice was still quiet but now the killing intent was directed right at Inari. "I have been hated for something I couldn't control, I had no friends, no parents and couldn't sleep in my home for fear of being killed in the night," stated the blonde as everyone just stared at him in morbid fascination and fear. Only Doku, Yoku and Kakashi seemed unaffected by the story.

"You have no idea how happy I was when I finally made friends, how overjoyed I felt when they let me live with them," here a light smile graced Naruto's lips and the killing intent lessened, "Then imagine my horror when I realized people started to hate those two people because they openly accepted me as a friend, the pain I felt when I saw them get chased and nearly killed by mobs all because they are my friends. I was surprised when they still decided to stay my friends when I told them about my burden," here the blonde got quiet. Slowly he rose to his feet and approached a terrified Inari. He stopped and glared at the boy. "Every day I have to live with the hatred of nearly my entire village and the fact that whoever associates themselves with me will be treated as badly as I am along with the knowledge that if I die on this mission, people will actually celebrate my death," with that the blonde opened the door and left.

Immediately Doku leapt from his chair and slammed Inari into a wall with barely restrained fury etched on his face. "Way to go you ungrateful little asshole!" the red-eyed boy screamed. "Don't you ever tell someone they know nothing of suffering because you have no room to talk! You still have a house, food, a loving mother and grandfather as well as a group of shinobi who are willing to risk their lives to help you so shut up, stop crying and accept the fact that your father died to save this land, a feat that you and the rest of your people should be striving to do instead of blubbering about how no one can beat Gato! That's like spitting in the eye of your father's memory and I'm damn sure he's turning in his grave seeing you act like there's no hope when people are trying to help your home!" with that Doku released the terrified child with a disgusted look and went upstairs to sleep.

"Was Naruto telling the truth? And why was Doku so angry" asked Sakura, hoping her teammate was just exaggerating, and confused at the powerful boy's anger.

"Sadly yes, and in reality it's much worse than what he told you," Yoku explained getting up, "He didn't even tell you about his time in the orphanage or the assassination attempts," the grey-eyed boy went to the door and stopped with his handle on the doorknob, "As for why Doku was so angry, Doku long ago made a promise that he would never let Naruto be anything but happy, a promise he keeps very close to his heart which one of the reasons why Doku trains so hard, to protect his brothers" he opened the door and gave everyone a sad smile, "I'm going to go find Naruto and search for some herbs, don't worry if we aren't back tomorrow morning," he said politely before leaving.

**Clearing mile away from Tazuna's house**

Naruto was pissed and was taking his anger out on the surrounding trees. Currently the blonde had formed a pair of blue chakra claws and was just shredding everything. There was no thought going through his head as the blonde just felt the urge to maim, to kill, to shred to absolutely DESTROY!

With a feral roar the boy slashed at a tree, the claws scoring deeply into the wood leaving behind five burning slash marks, the edges even started to smolder and sparks, threatening to catch fire. Again the blonde attacked this tree, this time with both hands going in cross slash. With a groan the tree finally fell over with a mighty crash. Naruto proceeded to transform the claws into hammer like fists. With a look of pure fury the blonde smashed the tree remains with vicious unrelenting blows, each one splintering and denting the main mart while crushing the branches.

Yoku just stood back at a safe distance and watched the blonde destroy the tree. The grey-eyed boy knew that in his current state, Naruto would attack anything, regardless if you were a friend, foe, or some poor sucker who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yoku was just glad that Naruto's chakra and eyes were still blue, showing that the Uzumaki hadn't lost control. Naruto could access the Kyuubi's chakra at will and the side effects would be red chakra and eyes, but when Naruto accessed them out of anger and/or sadness then he would be consumed by a demon's natural desire to destroy.

Apparently the stereotype that all demon's were evil stemmed from when the world was very young and demon's wandered the mortal plane whenever they wished. At the time those great beings were little better than animals and had only in the last several hundred years had quelled these destructive urgings by actually creating certain dimensions that demons could access and destroy to their heart's content. This allowed most demons to actually be quite pleasant and even become friends with the humans, thus creating the Bijuu who helped defend the mortal plane from other creatures who wanted nothing more than to destroy humanity.

Since Naruto couldn't access these pocket dimensions, and due to his rather hard life, this wasn't the first time Yoku had seen the blonde like this. Both he and Doku realized that their surrogate brother physically needed to do this sometimes and the most both Tsuuros could do was make sure the blonde didn't get too out of control, keep people away and find secluded areas that still had enough stuff to destroy. These outbursts were probably the only things that kept Naruto from attacking Konoha and the villagers who hated him.

Yoku looked up to see that Naruto had finished destroying the tree. At the moment the boy was just panting and staring at the splinters and crater that were the remains of the tree. He watched as Naruto's shoulders started to shake as he turned his head to the Tsuuro's location. "I'm done," he called in a shaky voice.

Yoku approached the boy and walked him over to a tree that hadn't been attacked. Pulling out a scroll, Yoku added some chakra to it and from it burst two blankets and two pillows. Naruto sent Yoku a grateful smile before lying his head down on a pillow and covering himself with one of the blanket. Immeditatly Yoku hear soft snore and saw the gentle rise and fall of Naruto's chest, indicating the young Uzumaki was asleep.

Sighing Yoku looked up into the night sky and settled himself into a comfortable position. Grabbing the remaining blanket and pillow the archer shinobi closed his eyes and succumbed to the darkness of sleep. The lost tought going through the Tsuuro's was this _'Zabuza will be ready the day after tomorrow and I have a feeling that something is about to happen… something big' _With that last thought the boy dreamt of a frozen mask.

**The next morning**

A girl in a pink kimono with long black hair that framed her petite looking face and brown doe like eyes walked into a clearing and was quite surprised at what she saw as she entered the clearing. A good portion of the ground was burned and there was a ginat crater in the shape of a tree. Some trees even supported burn marks that vaguely reminded the girl of animal like slash marks. She turned to see two boys resting beneath a tree.

She walked over to the two and immediately recognized them. _'These are two of the boys that fought Zabuza-sama' _she thought kneeling next t Naruto and stretching out a hand. _'I could kill these two and make Zabuza's mission easier, especially if these two are responsible for this destruction' _she mused reaching for the blonde's neck. Before she could touch him a hand shot out and gripped the girl's arm in an iron grip. Startled the black haired girl turned to find two startling grey eyes staring at her intently.

"Please do not wake my brother, he is rather tired," Yoku said in a calm voice as he stood up with the girl. He released his grip and observed the girl and was surprised at his thoughts of the girl, as he looked her over. _'Intelligent brown eyes… fair unblemished skin almost as pure as snow… black hair like the midnight sky and the look of silk… she's… breathtaking'_ Yoku thought with a faint pink tinge on his cheeks.

Mentally shaking himself Yoku gave the girl a polite smile. "Anyway, my name is Yoku and if I may ask what is yours?" he said in a formal voice while giving her a small bow.

A bit taken aback she responded, "My name is Haku, a pleasure to meet you Yoku-san," she said with a small bow. _'This boy is so polite, very different from Zabuza's rough attitude and those pigs' _her eyes started to take in his appearance _'He looks like one of those creatures from those books, what were they called again? Elves?'_ Haku thought. She stared at his fair skin and the lean muscles underneath, his tall figure with smooth brown long hair that stopped at his shoulders, the sharp features on his face all seeming to be crafted with the hands of a master sculptor. What captivated her were those eyes though, they were filled with such a deep sense of intelligence and understanding that it seemed like you were staring at the eyes of some ancient being. For some reason Haku felt that she could stare into those eyes for years and still be captivated by them. She quickly shook herself and tried to hide the blush she had developed.

"Anyway, I assume you are here to gather herbs?" asked Yoku, glancing at the basket in her hands.

Haku nodded, "Yes I came here to gather herbs to help a friend," she replied with a small smile.

"Well if you would allow, I'd be happy to help you," Yoku stated kindly. For a reason he couldn't explain Yoku wanted to learn more about this girl.

"It would be my pleasure," Haku replied somewhat quickly. Mentally she was shocked she had agreed so quickly. This boy was the enemy, yet she couldn't help but feel some sort of draw towards him. She brushed it off and got to gathering herbs, making small talk as they worked.

After some time Haku decided to ask about Naruto. "Excuse me but, did your brother do this damage?" she asked, gesturing to the damage around them.

"Hai, he was letting off some steam after a comment a client of ours said," Yoku said sadly.

"So you are shinobi?" she asked innocently.

"Hai,"

"What was it that could make him destroy this place?" asked Haku in genuine curiosity.

Yoku hesitated. He knew he shouldn't reveal too much so thinking quickly he decided to give her an answer that would satisfy. "The client said that he should give up on our mission, saying there was no hope or point, which enraged my brother who has trained as hard as he can to get stronger," he paused for a second, "You can imagine how my brother felt at being told he was getting stronger for nothing,"

"Why does he try to become stronger?" asked Haku.

"In all honesty I believe he does it for the same reason I do," Yoku mused.

"Which is?"

"To protect those precious to us, to defend something we love with our lives," Yoku stated strongly. He looked at his adopted sibling and smiled. "I don't really know if he knows it or not, but Naruto is the reason I want to become stronger, so I can defend everything precious to me, even at the cost of my life," Yoku finished wistfully, speaking more to himself than Haku.

Haku seemed pleased by this answer. "You know," she started, catching Yoku's attention, "people become truly strong when they wish to defend someone or something precious, don't you agree?" commented the girl. Yoku smiled and nodded. After sometime they finished and waved each other goodbye.

Yoku watched her go with a heavy feeling in his heart. "You do know who she is right?" asked a voice. Unsurprised he turned to see Naruto crouched down and staring intently at him.

Yoku nodded, "She's the hunter-nin," he stated quietly.

"Will you be able to fight her?" the fox boy asked seriously.

Yoku turned away and began to walk so his surrogate brother would not be able to see his eyes. "Of course," he called to his brother in an emotionless voice, but that didn't fool the blonde in the slightest. The scent hit him full in the face and it made him worry. Yoku was lying through his teeth.

**A/N: And here I stop, sorry it took a while but hey life is life. Anyway when we get back to Konoha we'll see some Naru/Hina interaction so don't worry folks! Also can anyone guess who maybe paired with Doku? Anyway R&R!**


	7. Battle on the Bridge

Konoha's Wild Warriors

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

**A/N: Hello everyone! This chapter we end the wave mission. Also I do plan on having Doku get over his fear of water from a very unlikely source. Well lets do this! HUH!**

There was an air of finality over the dinner table that night. Team 7 and Tazuna's family all knew that tomorrow they would be fighting Zabuza and Haku. They were going over what would and could happen. Yoku was currently outlying the best plan.

"Right, as we know Zabuza will attack us tomorrow, most likely on the bridge," Yoku stated giving everyone a hard stare, " What will happen is the following, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, Naruto and myself will escort Tazuna and face off with Zabuza and his accomplice while Doku will defend Inari and Tsunami from any thugs that Gato may send so that he may have insurance against us," Yoku glanced at Doku and noticed the relief in his brother's eyes. The bridge may have been big but Doku was still scared of setting foot on the thing. "After the thugs have been beaten off I want Doku, Inari and Tsunami to gather a lynch mob so that we have some extra firepower to finally drive Gato and his thugs out of the town," Yoku gave Doku a hard stare, "Understand Doku?"

"Got it Yoku, I'll bring the mob to the bridge since you seem to believe that's where Gato will appear with his thugs," Doku said with a serious tone, though there was a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"How do you even know Gato and his goons will appear on the bridge?" Sasuke demanded. This was the part of the plan that had everyone confused. Yoku had told them that he was positive Gato would appear on the bridge with the majority of his hired goons.

Yoku sighed at this _'Can they really not see the reason?' _he thought with some annoyance. "The reason that Gato will appear on the bridge with his goons is simple," Yoku said slowly "A man like Gato will more than likely try to eliminate the biggest threat in one fell swoop while simultaneously save himself from having to pay the expensive prices that a missing-nin charges," here Yoku paused to see that Sasuke still doubted him, "Gato is greedy and will more than likely try to kill Zabuza and his subordinate at the bridge when we will all be too tired from our previous fight to effectively defeat Gato and his army," Yoku stated putting emphasis on his words.

Sasuke just grunted and waved him to continue his plan. Yoku closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Kakashi noticed this and quickly took over, "Anyway once we reach the bridge, Sakura you will defend Tazuna since you are the only one with a defensive jutsu while Yoku supports you and the rest of us from long range and using his wind jutsu to deflect projectiles from you and Tazuna as well as dispersing Zabuza's mist," stated the masked man. Sakura nodded in confirmation, inwardly relieved she wouldn't be put in the direct line of combat.

"Sasuke, you will fight the hunter-nin because you are the fastest of the group besides Doku without his weights and Yoku, plus you are the only one who has a taijutsu that can effectively counter your enemies speed," Kakashi said. Sasuke smirked at this, feeling very superior. Yoku grimaced at this but knew that Sasuke's taijutsu style relied on speed and effectively countering an opponent's attacks. While his own style was fast, it relied to heavily on hitting exact locations, so his attacks would be useless against her since more than likely Haku's and Yoku's styles would be similar. Doku could be as fast but his fear of water wouldn't allow him to step on the bridge, plus while Doku was fast, he had no real taijutsu style except for the academy one.

Put simply, Doku had no real taijutsu style so he would be effectively beaten with a few well-placed punches. Yoku had the tools but lacked the strength to do lasting damage should she block and the fact that she would more than likely know what he was going to do. Sasuke however had the taijutsu, speed, and strength to effectively go against Haku and more than likely win in a fight of hand-to-hand combat. Sasuke was the best bet to fight against Haku.

"I will be fighting Zabuza while Naruto provides Sasuke support in any way possible," Kakashi finished. Naruto nodded and gave Yoku a big grin. Sasuke on the other hand once again spoke up.

"I don't need any help and even if I did what would the dobe be able to do?" Sasuke sneered. Naruto growled at the last Uchiha while Doku restrained himself from smashing the black haired boy into the dirt. Sakura gave him a sidelong glance. She had started to see that Sasuke was very arrogant but was still fighting with her fan-girl tendencies.

"Sasuke, we don't know what kind of ninjutsu the other ninja may have except they may be water based. Naruto can effectively use his chakra as a shield from her senbon and his taijutsu is perfect for avoiding attacks and landing hits, no matter how fast the opponent is," Yoku said in a hard voice. "Also Naruto is also the second best choice in fighting her and has the best chakra control out of all of us except maybe Sakura," finished the grey eyed boy in an annoyed voice. Sasuke just grunted at him, not really caring.

"Whatever, just don't get in my way dobe," Sasuke said getting up and heading to bed.

Kakashi sighed at this. _'That boy really needs to realize he isn't the best of the best, though with how the council treats him that's not going to happen anytime soon' _thought the Hatake. "Well team, why don't you all head to bed, tomorrow's a big day," he stated with an eye smile. Everyone gave a murmur of agreement and headed off to bed.

**Next day**

Team 7 minus Doku had arrived at the bridge at around ten in the morning to a scene that had everyone on edge. The mist that usually hung around at this time in the day was thicker than it should be and there was the sense of killing intent laced within it. Slowly the group walked onto the bridge with Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke in the lead shortly followed by Sakura and Yoku with Tazuna bringing up the rear. After some time Sasuke nearly tripped and when he looked to see what it was, he beheld the body of one of the workers sprawled on the ground in a motionless heap.

Yoku quickly went up to the body and checked the man's pulse. "He's fine, just unconscious," the grey-eyed boy declared softly. Running through some hand signs, Yoku did a small Great Breakthrough to clear some of the surrounding mist. When he did, everyone was shocked to find more unconscious workers.

"Yoku, Sakura, defensive positions!" Kakashi barked. Immediately Sakura and Yoku took up defensive positions in front of the bridge builder. Yoku had his bow drawn while Sakura had a kunai drawn and was holding it in front of her.

"Well, well, look who finally showed up," stated an eerily familiar voice. Slowly the mist thinned to reveal Zabuza and Haku with her mask on. "Heh, look, that one is still shaking," Zabuza said in a mocking voice.

Sure enough Sasuke was shaking, only this time there was a smirk on his face. "I'm shaking with excitement," he stated in a confident voice. Immediately the Uchiha leapt into action and destroyed several water clones that had been trying to sneak up on them. There was the sound of the clones exploding and in less than half a minute, Sasuke reappeared, his ever present smirk on his face.

"Seems like you have a competitor in speed Haku," stated Zabuza in an amused tone.

"So it seems," Haku said in an emotionless voice. She brought her fist up, a senbon firmly grasped in her hand. The eye slits of her mask stared at Sasuke, sizing him up. Sasuke just smirked and brought up a kunai in a reverse grip. On some unspoken command, both ninja rushed at each other with speeds that only Kakashi, Yoku and Zabuza could actually follow with their eyes. Naruto could hear and smell their positions but otherwise all he saw was blurs and sparks as the two clashed.

Suddenly both ninja appeared, Sasuke's kunai locked with Haku's senbon. Both were trying to overpower the other with one hand but it proved to be a stalemate. Sasuke smirked at the masked nin, "Hn. Seems I've got you now," the Uchiha said with a smug expression.

"Not quite," Haku replied. Immediately the female started making one-handed seals, much to the amazement of everyone except for Zabuza who just smirked underneath his bandages.

Haku finished her seals and slammed her foot on the ground making water fly into the air all around them, "1000 needles of Death," Haku announced while jumping away. Immediately the water turned into needles of ice and flew at the surprised rookie of the year. Thinking quickly, Sasuke pumped chakra to his legs and jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the needles.

"What the hell? How in the name of Kami did you find a Kekkai Genkai user?" Naruto shouted at Zabuza. Kakashi seemed to be more on edge than ever and Yoku was gritting his teeth in frustration. Confused, Sakura sent a glance to her grey-eyed teammate.

Not taking his eyes off of Haku, Yoku explained in a calm voice, "A Kekkai Genkai is a special trait passed from generation to generation, a good example is the Sharingan or Byakugan, a doujutsu found only in the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans," narrowing his eyes he continued, "however there are bloodline users that can change their forms like Naruto into a fox or the Kaguya clan's Shikotsu Myaku or create different elements like the first hokage's wood jutsus," Yoku paused for a second and had a deep frown on his face "Basically Sakura, there are those who can use different elements by combining two base elements, those who can physically manipulate their bodies and so on because of a mutation in their genetics that's passed from parent to offspring," Finished Yoku, though he still looked incredibly confused and frustrated.

"So? Why do you sound so confused then?" asked Sakura, worried out of her mind.

"The problem is that any bloodlines in Water Country were said to have been wiped out during the civil war," Yoku said in an icy tone. "So how is it that Zabuza, a shinobi rarely seen out of water country, even after becoming a missing nin, has a bloodline user?"

Zabuza looked at Yoku in surprise, as did Kakashi and Tazuna. Sakura looked horrified and Naruto had a scowl on his face while Haku seemed a bit depressed. "Smart kid you got there, Kakashi," Zabuza stated while looking at Yoku in a new light. _'How does this kid know all this? The news about the civil war was only released recently and even then no one outside of water country should know about the purge! How the hell does some genin know about it?' _"As for Haku, I found her a while back and turned her into the greatest ninja tool, she has no emotions and is completely loyal to me and has the ability to kill without batting an eyelash," Zabuza stated.

Naruto started growling at this. He knew for a fact that the council had wanted to turn him into exactly what Zabuza said Haku was. Naruto did not wish that on anyone and he knew for a fact that Haku was dismayed by this fact. "What the hell? How in the name of Kami can you just use someone like that?" Naruto shouted at the jounin.

Surprisingly it was Haku who answered, "Zabuza-sama gave my life purpose and for that I will gladly do whatever he asks," she said in a dead tone, hiding the sadness in her voice.

"Enough talk! Lets fight!" Sasuke shouted, completely fed up with the talking. With that Sasuke charged towards Haku. Naruto gave a curse before chasing after his teammate, mentally berating the Uchiha for not waiting to make a plan.

Knowing the danger, Kakashi tried to follow after but was intercepted by Zabuza. "Let the kids have their fun, I'm your opponent this time Kakashi!" stated the demon of the mist and with that he disappeared into the mist. Kakashi slowly reached for his headband and revealed his sharingan. The battle for the bridge had begun.

**Tazuna's house**

Doku stood in front of the bridge builder's home and was absent-mindedly picking his nails, wondering where the hell Gato's thugs were. The boy had told both Inari and Tsunami to stay inside until he gave the all clear, but it was starting to look like that was unnecessary as Doku had yet to see a single person who seemed even remotely threatening. He was about ready to leave when he heard footsteps. Deciding to stay where he was, Doku waited for whoever it was to appear.

After some time Doku finally spotted two men with swords and he allowed a smirk to grace his features. The one on the left had an eye patch and was shirtless, with some strange tattoo on his shoulder and some scars on his body and was wearing a black kimono bottom with simple sandals.. The other one was wearing a black skullcap, pale blue sweatshirt and grey shorts with the same sandals. Each one had a smug expression on their face and Doku was going to enjoy beating them.

"What took you guys so long? I've been waiting for about an hour!" Doku called out to the two. Confused the two mercs stopped and stared at the kid in front of them, hands on their swords just in case.

"You know this guy Zouri?" asked the man with the eye patch to his companion.

Zouri shook his head and said "Never seen him before in my life Waraji,"

"Well? You two gonna keep talking or are you gonna fight cause I'm getting impatient," stated the red-eyed boy while tapping his foot in annoyance. Mentally he started to count down.

"Heh, like you could do anything to stop us!" stated the eye-patch wearing swordsman. "Come on Zouri lets-" started the man before he was interrupted by Doku saying "DING! Pain is ready!" followed by a bone shattering punch to his stomach that caused him to pass out.

Surprised Zouri drew his blade but was easily taken down by an uppercut to the jaw courtesy of Doku's right fist. Sighing Doku shook his head in disappointment, he had honestly hoped the two would be more of a challenge, but they had easily been thrashed by his superior strength and speed.

"Not even worth my time," muttered the warlike Tsuuro as he turned to the house, "Inari! Tsunami! The coast is clear, come on out!" Doku shouted with a smirk. Soon both family members appeared and Inari ran over to see how Doku was.

"Doku nii-san! Are you ok?" asked the small boy to his surrogate older brother. The two had made up after that night and Inari saw the Tsuuros as family.

Doku laughed, "Come on Inari, I'm a hell of a lot tougher than two wannabe samurais!"

"Doku! Watch your language!" Tsunami scolded the young man who smiled sheepishly.

Suddenly Doku's posture changed so that he was standing ramrod straight and staring towards the bridge. Something was wrong at the bridge, and the Tsuuro had a gut feeling that if he didn't get over there, something bad would happen. "Tsunami, Inari, you guys get the mob, I'm heading to the bride," ordered the genin.

"Whats wrong Doku?" Tsunami asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure, but I need to get to the bridge NOW," Doku replied while rushing off. The red-eyed boy just hoped he wasn't too late.

**The bridge**

Yoku was, for lack of a better word, dismayed at their current predicament. Tazuna was safe but that's not what Yoku's problem was. Haku had created some kind of ice dome around Sasuke and Naruto and he couldn't do a thing to get rid of it for any time he tried to get close, Zabuza would attack him before being fought off by a quickly tiring Kakashi. Also it was apparent that no matter how many times Yoku would disperse the mist, it would almost immediately just reappear. He was only thankful that Zabuza was too busy fighting his sensei that he couldn't make any attempts to attack the bridge builder. Besides even if he made it to the ice dome he doubted he could do anything to help besides providing a quick escape for his friends via a substitution.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was fighting for his life against Zabuza and he had nearly been killed several times already by the nuke-nin's oversized meat cleaver. The silver haired nin cursed the fact that he couldn't use his sharingan, but he had an idea on how to beat Zabuza but he would need a distraction.

Once again, Kakashi ducked the blade and kicked back at his attacker. Grunting, Zabuza leapt back only to come again with a downward swing. Thinking quickly Kakashi used the metal on the back of his glove to guard against the blade. Soon the two were struggling to overpower the other. Suddenly Zabuza kicked at the other masked jounin causing him to fall on his back. Looking up Kakashi saw the blade coming down on him, too quickly for him to dodge Kakashi shut his eyes and braced himself for the incoming pain. However instead of the pain of death he heard the sound of… grunting?

Slowly opening his eyes he saw the most surprising thing ever. Zabuza Mamochi, demon of the bloody mist and one of the seven swordsmen, was being held back by none other than Doku Tsuuro, genin of Konoha and what was even more surprising was that Doku was using nothing but a spear of rock to hold off the blade that was said to go though human bodies like nothing!

"Hey sensei, you all right?" Doku asked without taking his eyes off of Zabuza. Zabuza was shocked at the kid in front of him, not only was the kid holding him off but he didn't even seemed fazed and those red eyes were telling the former Kiri nin that this kid meant business. _'What the hell? Where did Kakashi get these guys?'_ thought an amazed Zabuza.

"I'm fine Doku, but you need to go help Naruto and Sasuke," Kakashi informed the boy. Kakashi marveled at the strength the boy seemed to have, and even considered having Doku fight off Zabuza long enough for him to get his jutsu ready.

"Got it, I'm gonna assume they're in the ice dome?" Doku asked while throwing off Zabuza, much to the nuke-nin's surprise. Kakashi gave him an affirmative and the boy grinned before he left in a burst of speed.

Zabuza made to go after the boy but was distracted by a kunai nearly imbedding itself in his neck. He turned to see Kakashi pulling out a scroll and glaring at him. "Your fight is with me Mamochi," Zabuza grunted and just vanished into the mist once more.

While Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting, Naruto and Sasuke were experiencing hell in the form of needles flying from every single direction. Sasuke's sharingan had activated during the fight but even then the two had only been able to singe Haku's robe. Thankfully neither boy was too beat up due to Naruto forming a blue chakra cloak around the majority of his body and Sasuke using his speed and sharingan to avoid the deadly projectiles, but that didn't mean that Haku hadn't landed some pretty good hits. Both boys had senbon sticking out of their backs, torsos, arms and legs. It was a miracle that they hadn't been hit in the neck or head, though Naruto suspected Haku didn't really want to kill.

"Dammit we need to get out of here," Naruto panted, his reserves running low from creating so many shadow clones to find an opening and the constant need to have his chakra defend his body.

"What was your first clue?" Sasuke snorted, he too was nearly out of chakra but he wasn't about to let it show. That's when the boy noticed movement outside of the dome.

"I think its time I ended this," Haku declared in a monotone, with that she flung a hail of senbon at Naruto, all aimed for his neck and other vital spots. Seeing this Sasuke dashed over to Naruto's position, doing hand seals as he went while the foxy blonde summoned up the last of his chakra to defend himself and closed his eyes, braced for the incoming pain. The next thing Naruto heard was a pained grunt and no pain. Slowly, he opened his eyes but they snapped open immediately when he saw who it was.

Standing there, his back riddled with so much senbon that he looked like a porcupine, with a devil may care grin on his face was Doku Tsuuro. Naruto could only gape as Doku gave a painful chuckle; some blood coming out of the corner of his mouth, signifying he had been hit in numerous vital spots. "Hey, you ok?" asked the boy as his eyes started to cloud over.

Naruto nodded as some tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. _'Doku? How? Why?'_ were the only thoughts going through the blonde's head.

"Good, now do me a favor," Doku said, his legs shaking from the effort of standing up. Naruto could only shake his head, trying to deny what was happening in front of him, some tears escaping his eyes. "Don't come see me for a damn long time and take care of Yoku and Sakura," Doku ordered weakly as he finally started to sway then fell to his knees as his body hit the ground face first, his grin still on his face but the life gone from his red eyes.

The tears finally broke free as they raced down Naruto's cheeks as he silently wept for his brother. The blonde fell to his hands and knees, the tears hitting the concrete with faint splashes. Slowly something started to stir within Naruto as he subconsciously began to draw upon his demonic youki.

"Is this the first time you've seen a comrade fall in battle?" asked Haku with pity in her voice. She had seen the whole thing and knew for a fact that Sasuke had used a substitution to replace himself with the boy now on the ground. "It is what we do as shinobi, it is our fate to be used as tools and for our lives to be given up for the sake of the mission," stated the masked girl.

"Shut up," Naruto whispered as his body started to become enveloped in steam as his wounds healed and senbon were slowly pushed out of his body. Haku could only watch in amazement as red chakra started to envelop the boy. Slowly Naruto started to stand, his finger and toenails becoming more claw like while his already defined whisker marks became darker. "I'm going t**o KILL YOU!"** Naruto roared as he snapped his head up and glared at Haku, his now red eyes and completely slit black pupils boring into her with untold hatred and fury. He bared his teeth at her, his fangs glistening as the red chakra started to swirl around him violently, ripping up the concrete beneath him.

With a roar, Naruto jumped at the mirrors and punched straight through the ice, knocking Haku out of the mirror as he did. In fear, Haku started to throw senbon at the demon possessed child, all to no avail due to Naruto's now red chakra cloak. Slowly Naruto approached, his eyes burning, demanding his bloodlust be satisfied. Without knowing what else to do Haku screamed.

Hearing the scream, Zabuza turned towards the spot where he had felt the influx of power and saw the most terrifying sight he had seen to date. Haku was about to be killed by a boy who looked like a demon! Completely forgetting Kakashi, Zabuza dashed off to save the girl he considered a daughter, with two others closely following him.

Just as Naruto was about to strike, he was stopped as a giant blade nearly took off his arm. Snarling, the blonde leapt back and was surprised at what he saw. There was Zabuza defending Haku, but what really surprised him was that both Yoku AND Kakashi were defending the girl as well.

"Naruto control yourself!" Yoku barked, his bow ready to fire. "Now is not the time or the place to lose yourself,"

"**Move out of the way Yoku! She must pay!" **Naruto growled.

"It doesn't matter right now, Naruto. If you keep this up you'll unleash the Kyuubi on everyone," Kakashi warned. At this Zabuza looked surprised and Haku looked even more terrified.

"**She killed Doku!" **Naruto roared. At this a shocked look came over Yoku.

"NO! I didn't kill him!" screamed Haku. Too terrified to stop herself from admitting she was too weak to kill someone. "I only put him in a death like state! I was aiming to do that to the black haired boy but he substituted himself with the other one!" she yelled, desperate to keep herself from being ripped apart by this demonic child.

Everyone looked surprised at this and Naruto's youki seemed to recede a bit before it came back again, **"SASUKE!" **roared the blonde as his chakra once again spiked dispelling the mist completely and revealing everyone on the bridge. Naruto started to search for the Uchiha but was stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Turning he saw Yoku who was wincing from the pain in his hand caused by Naruto's corrosive chakra. "Naruto, search for Sasuke later we need to help Doku, besides none of this would have happened if not for Gato, so take your anger out on him when he arrives," Yoku stated firmly while giving his surrogate brother a hard but caring look.

Slowly, the youki around Naruto began to recede. After some time Naruto nodded and dashed off to grab Doku. Yoku meanwhile turned to Haku and Zabuza, "Our fight is over, you have several options now," Yoku stated in a calm voice. "You can either continue to fight us and be killed, or you can help us fight off Gato," offered the boy.

Surprised, Zabuza and Haku looked to each other and weighed their options. There was no way they could keep fighting, especially with the now revealed and newly healed Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, besides if that spike was anything to go by, they would be nothing more than stains on the bridge if Naruto decided to get serious and go all out. Besides that, there was still the fact that they were outnumbered and down on chakra. On the other hand, they could run away, but then what? Go work for another scumbag like Gato? Besides that they had hunter-nin on their tails so sooner or later they'd have to find someplace to hide. Turning back to Yoku, Zabuza gave the boy a nod and said, "We'll help you fight off Gato on one condition,"

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow and asked, "What condition?"

"You take us back to Konoha so we can become shinobi," stated Zabuza. Kakashi's eye bugged out a bit but Yoku nodded.

"I'll see what I can do, but first we might want to take care of THAT," Yoku stated as he pointed behind Zabuza. Turning quickly, they beheld the sight of a short man wearing sunglasses, a pin stripe suit and wielding a cane with an army of mercenaries armed to the teeth behind him.

"Heh, demon of the mist my ass, looks like the great Zabuza is nothing more than a chibi devil," Gato taunted as his mercs guffawed at the statement.

"What are doing here Gato?" Zabuza growled.

"What do you think? I'm here to kill you of course, along with the other shinobi here. Can't have anyone interfering with my business now can I? Besides you cost too much, I was going to kill you anyway and this is as perfect a time as any," Gato declared smugly as Naruto reappeared supporting a tired Doku.

"Alright boys, get to work, but try not to kill the girls, they seem like they'd be some fun," Gato declared with a grin. "Now go an-," he never finished his sentence as an arrow suddenly protruded from the small man's throat as well as a spear made of solid rock came tearing through Gato's head. Surpised the mercs turned to see Yoku with another arrow notched in his hand, a look cold fury in his grey eyes, while Doku now sat astride a red snarling fox the size of a horse, a barbaric fury in his red eyes.

"You little bastards just killed our meal ticket!" shouted a mercenary angrily. The mob made to charge when they stopped once again, a crossbow bolt buried in the ground in front of them. The mist cleared and there stood Inari, a crossbow in hand and backed by the entire village of wave, all of who were armed with whatever they could get their hands on, ranging from farming tools to kitchen knives and led pipes. The mob hesitated for a second, unsure whether to charge or flee.

"You have two choices now," Yoku called in voice of icy steel, "Run to live another day, or stay and be killed like livestock led to the slaughter," he declared, his steel grey eyes never blinking.

"Ha! Come on boys lets take this town, they're just a bunch of brats!" roared a mercenary. With that the mercenaries charged forward. Without hesitation Doku gave a roar and leveled his spear at the oncoming force while Naruto dashed forward with a vicious snarl, the villagers close behind them.

"I'll eat your heart!" Doku roared as he plunged his spear into the head of a merc from his position on Naruto's back. Naruto himself was ripping peoples throats out with his teeth and mauling them with one sweep of his claws. More fell to the arrows and senbon of both Haku and Yoku, their deadly aim felling the oncoming enemies in mere seconds, while Zabuza's sword cleaved through multiple bodies at once, the demon of the mist giving a sadistic laugh as he went along. Kakashi picked off the stragglers one by one with jutsu after jutsu as the horde of villagers chased Gato's goon out, mercilessly terminating any merc too slow to outrun the angry mob.

The battle was short, but it was extremely bloody. On the side of the shinobi and villagers, there was no casualties, but plenty had been wounded heavily enough that they wouldn't be doing anything for weeks. On the mercenary side however, hardly any of them had survived. The bodies and limbs covered the area, the bridge painted crimson with blood while the metallic stench of blood hung in the air like a heavy mist. Sakura stared in horror at the aftermath while Sasuke just looked on with an apathetic gaze.

Panting heavily, Zabuza looked on in awe at the three boys that had done most of the damage. Doku was covered head to tow in blood, his shirt nothing more than tatters and his hair in spiky clumps from the dried blood. With his bloody spear in hand, the red-eyed Tsuuro stood tall and proud, his face set in a deep frown with eyes blazing. To Zabuza, he looked like some barbaric god of war.

Turning his head, the demon looked upon the form of Yoku. The grey-eyed boy didn't have a mark on him but his quiver was empty as held the bow in his right hand and a kunai, shuriken and senbon clutched in his left fist, poised to throw. He stood rigigd, tense and ready to strike at a moments notice, his face a carefully blank mask while his calculating grey eyes searched for another target. Again, an image invade Zabuza's mind, but this one was of a master assassin, one who didn't waste a single movement, who took every opening it could get and left nothing to chance.

Finally, his gaze rested upon Naruto, the blonde's hair streaked with red as his eyes roved around the area, his ears twitching ever so slightly and his nose sniffing the air. The blonde had several bloodstains on his body but for the most part the blood was concentrated around his hands, some of it still dripping from his nails while his canines that were poking out of his upper lip were coated in a red hue His body was tense and he was semi-crouched, making Zabuza think that he resembled a fox ready to pounce or run.

"All right everyone lets clean up this mess, we have a lot of work to do before wave is truly free!" Tazuna shouted. He was met with a loud cheer of agreement.

"Right then, Sasuke, use a fire jutsu to help me burn these bodies away, Yoku, take Haku and Sakura and start healing the wounded," Kakashi ordered, "Zabuza, use a water jutsu to help clean the blood off the bridge, Doku and Naruto, help the workers clean up some of the debris and bodies," everyone gave a loud hai and set off to do their respective jobs.

"Hey grandpa," Inari said catching the attention of the old bridge builder, "What are we going to name the bridge?" questioned the boy.

Tazuna rubbed his beard in thought for a moment, his eyes wandering, taking in the sights of the shinobi helping his people a slow smile started to form on the old man's face. "How about the Great Shinobi Bridge?" Tazuna suggested.

Inari grinned at that and enthusiastically agreed with his grandfather. Getting back to work, a sense of peace filled the air as the sun shone brightly in the sky. Wave was now well on the road to recovery and the future promised to be bright and glorious.

**A/N: Finished, sorry this took so long but well, laziness struck and I was busy with some other stories. Anyway, be sure to R&R. until next time my friends!**


	8. Back at home

A Warrior, An Archer and A Fox

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and also for those of you who have wondered about the title change, I just feel it's more appropriate. A reader named RIOSHO brought this question to my attention. Also while I'm speaking of this reader, RIOSHO I'd just like to say YOU"RE A FREAKING GENIUS! Also there's a surprise in this chapter for everyone. Anyway now that that's taken care of lets start the show!**

Team 7 with Zabuza and Haku were leaping through the trees in true shinobi fashion traveling towards Konoha**. **Up in front was Kakashi and Yoku, both writing up a report for the mission in accordance with the oral report to the hokage later on. Following the two was Doku and Zabuza, who were surprisingly hitting it off quite well and were currently discussing battles that they'd seen, read, participated in or heard of. After those two came Sakura and Haku, the black haired girl was questioning Sakura all about Konoha and Sakura was happy just to have another girl to talk to. Finally bringing up the rear was Naruto and Sasuke, the Uchiha glaring ahead with his usual attitude and the Uzumaki watching the black haired youth like a hawk, unwilling to let the boy out of his sight.

The blonde was still pissed about the stunt Sasuke had pulled back at the bridge and the only thing stopping him were Yoku's words. _'You can't just attack Sasuke, Naruto, even if he did use a fellow shinobi for a substitution, he has already claimed that he didn't know it was another person. Even if you know he's lying, the most you can do is just give your point of view to the hokage so Sarutobi can pass judgment' _Echoed the grey eyed Tsuuro's words in Naruto's mind. The blonde ground his teeth in frustration because he just knew that somehow the council would get involved and Sasuke would get a slap on the wrist or a warning.

Back with the girls, Haku was now asking Sakura about the boys they were traveling with. "So what are Sasuke, Doku, Naruto and Yoku-kun like?" asked Haku, unconsciously adding the kun to Yoku's name, though she seemed oblivious to that small fact.

Sakura quirked an eyebrow at the suffix to Yoku's name but answered her anyway. "Well, Sasuke-kun is the rookie of the year and the last of the Uchiha clan," Sakura stated proudly, "For the most part he's pretty distant and kind of cold but I'm sure he just needs someone to pull him out of it," Sakura explained.

"So is he strong?" Haku inquired

"Yup! He's really strong!" Sakura said fangirlishly while Haku had a slight sweatdrop at that. _'Obviously if I want to learn more about Sasuke I'm going to have to ask someone else'_ Haku noted mentally.

"As for Doku, he's a pervert," Sakura stated with a huff. A thoughtful look then crossed her features "But I do have to admit he can be a pretty nice guy, plus he's really loyal and protective of his friends and family," Sakura stated with a wistful look, "he can be pretty dense sometimes but when it comes down to it, Doku is one of the most reliable friends you can have," she finished.

Haku thought about that information a moment and noted that while Sakura was talking she had also been staring at Doku. "Ok what about Naruto? From what I've seen he's pretty protective of his precious people," Haku questioned.

Sakura nodded at that, "Yeah, Naruto is pretty protective of his friends, especially Doku and Yoku," Sakura said as she pushed off another tree branch. "At the academy he was the dead last so everyone thought he was just an idiot," _'Myself included'_ Sakura stated, saying the last part mentally. "Now that I've seen some of his skills, I'm starting to realize there's more to Naruto than meets the eye, but otherwise he's not much different than the goofy and kind prankster he was back at the academy," Sakura finished. After what Yoku had told her happened to Naruto back at the village, she started to see him in a much different light. She still thought he could be annoying but otherwise she considered him a pretty good friend.

'_Like the fact he has a demon inside him'_ Haku thought with a bit of sarcasm. "So what about Yoku-kun?" asked the dark haired girl. Sakura once again raised an eyebrow at the affectionate suffix she had used but decided once again to ignore it… for now. One thing was for sure, she and Ino were going to have a lot to gossip about.

"Well Yoku is smart, that's for sure," Sakura started, "for the most part he's very polite and kind to everyone, I don't think I've ever seen or heard him insult or tease anyone besides his brother Doku and Naruto," she smirked at that, whenever Yoku did tease his brothers, he knew just what to say to get under their skin or embarrass them, ending their little insults and teasing immediately."Yoku also has the best accuracy in the village, some people even say he could nail a fly on the wall of the academy from the top of the hokage monument," Sakura said, gloating a bit at the rumor that had started about his astonishing precision.

Haku looked a bit awed at that, granted she knew the rumor was untrue but in order to get a rumor like that, you had to be some kind of good at using projectiles. Then again the bow and arrow should have been a dead give away that he was a long to mid-range fighter. Plus she did see him use wind jutsu, so it would just further prove he attacked from a distance.

"Hey! We're coming up on the gates!" Doku shouted excitedly. Sure enough, up ahead were the giant gates of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Haku and Zabuza stared on in awe of the grand iron reinforced gates, Haku stared because she had never before seen something that large and Zabuza because he had heard about the grand gates of Konoha but he had never expected them to be that large!

"Wow," Haku said in an awed voice. The shinobi of the leaf just smiled at the two foreigners' reactions. To them, it was just good to be home. Soon the team was at the entrance and was showing their papers to the two gatekeepers. After some walking and when the group was about halfway to the hokage tower, Naruto abruptly turned around and caught a bottle that had been flying at him. Glaring he looked to see three men, all with bloodshot eyes, rosy cheeks and the distinct smell of sake on them.

"It is illegal to attack a shinobi," Yoku stated calmly as he leveled a glare at the drunks.

The middle one, a hefty brown haired individual, scoffed at that, "We ain't attacking no shinobi! We're attacking a demon and his followers!" he slurred.

"Yeah! Scum like those three don't deserve to be on the same team as Uchiha-sama, much less alive!" stated a tall lanky red head to the fat one's left.

"It's also illegal to be drunk in public assholes," Doku growled as he took a step forward. "As a ninja of the leaf I hereby place you three under arrest, if you resist, I am authorized to use force," the red eyed boy said in a low voice.

"Ha! I'd like to see you try!" shouted the last one, an average looking bald man with pig eyes.

"I warned you," Doku said with an evil grin. Without warning, he leaped forward and slammed a fist into the fat one's stomach. Said man exhaled painfully and doubled over in pain. Capitalizing on the injured male's current position, Doku used his knee and slammed it into the man's jaw with a sickening crunch and made several teeth fly out. The hefty individual fell with a mighty thud in an unconscious heap, pain coursing through his entire being.

Surprised, the lanky tall man threw a punch at Doku, but the genin caught the man's fist and gave a sharp twist, a crunch informing everyone that he had twisted the bones in the red head's wrist. Said red head yelled in pain but a solid blow to the man's kidney swiftly silenced that, courtesy of Doku's free hand. The red head then leaned into the blow, and grabbing the man's arm with both hands, Doku flipped the drunk over his shoulder and onto the ground, effectively stunning him.

The last man had enough sense to realize that they he had no chance against this kid in a straight fight, so he had drawn two three inch switchblades. While he was by no means a ninja, the bald man was a master knife-man. In fact, his skill with knives were only rivaled by that of Asuma Sarutobi with his trench knives and twin swallow technique. Too bad for pig eyes that Doku used jutsu other than taijutsu.

Quick as a flash, Doku went through the seals and a perfect rectangle of earth slammed right into the charging baldy. Too surprised to stop, the pig eyed man slammed into the wall and was knocked out immediately. The red eyed Tsuuro just rolled his eyes at the knocked out drunks and glared at the surrounding villagers who had stopped to watch. Every villager gathered were looking at Doku with hatred, Yoku and Naruto were receiving the same.

Growling Doku went through some handseals and grabbed a spear of rock out of the ground when he finished them. Pointing it at the crowd he growled, "The next group of attackers that come after me or my brothers, will die," this caused some whispers of anger and fear to run through the crowd.

"You can't threaten us!" shouted a civilian whose outburst was met with mutters of approval.

Doku snorted, "It is not a threat, the days of you attacking my family without repercussions is over, and that is a promise I will keep carved in stone and painted with blood," the boy said dangerously, his eyes flashing. "Sensei, I'm taking these three in, you guys go ahead," Doku informed, picking up the three men.

Before Doku could leap off,Zabuza stopped him with a hand on the genin's shoulder. "Red-eye, what the hell was that about?" he asked, gesturing towards the knocked out men and retreating villagers. Haku also looked on in worry along with everyone else as Doku's eyes just hardened in fury as he cast a furious glance at the villagers.

Instead of Doku, Naruto answered the question, "Comes with the title, now come on, I just want to finish this mission and grab some ramen," the blonde stated simply as he bounded off towards the tower, soon followed by a slightly depressed Yoku, two confused females, a curious Uchiha and two understanding jounin as Doku just went off to turn in the three drunks.

**Hokage's Tower, Hokage office**

Sarutobi stroked his beard as he absorbed the mission report and the requests of the Mamochi to become shinobi of the leaf. "A fine report Yoku, Kakashi and I'm to assume that both of you have made the proper written report?" he inquired. Both shinobi nodded while Naruto glared at the silent Sasuke, his anger renewed when Kakashi told Sarutobi about the substitution and Doku's near death. Sakura just stood to the side in silence with Haku and Zabuza, waiting for the debriefing to end.

The aged hokage took a few puffs from his pipe and turned to face the two Mamochis. "Tell me, why exactly do you wish to join the leaf and what would you have to offer to my village?" Hiruzen questioned. In reality he had already approved them but protocol was protocol, and protocol said that any outside forces willing to join the leaf had to be questioned about their intentions, reasons and abilities.

Zabuza cleared his throat and stood as regally as he could, "Well sir, I wish to stop running away from hunter nins and become a shinobi once again, also I wish for my daughter to have an actual place to live other than just being on the run," Zabuza stated, "As for our abilities, I'm a master of the silent killing technique and several water jutsus, also I am a jounin level ninja and expert swordsman," finished the sword user. The old man nodded at that before turning to the young ice mistress.

"And you my dear?" the fire shadow asked Haku.

Haku gulped slightly but answered him anyway, "I was trained to be a shinobi by Zabu- I mean Tou-san," Haku corrected herself. She smiled inwardly at the warm feeling of being able to call the man who had given her so much her father. "However I do have some training in medicine and I would like to become a med-nin, other than that I have near perfect accuracy with my senbon, speed of a high chuunin and, as you know, a bloodline that allows me to combine wind and water elements to create ice," she finished.

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers in front of him, eyes closed in deep thought. In his mind, the elderly hokage was trying to decide what he should do with these two foreign ninja. He already knew he was going to enlist them but the real problem was giving them an actual job. Both of them would have to be on a probation period of at least three months to show they had no ill intentions before they were allowed missions outside the village. Haku was easy to place, he'd just put her in the hospital as an intern. Zabuza however would probably go ballistic if he didn't get anything interesting to do. As he massaged his temples the proverbial light bulb went off and a slow smile crept its way across his elderly face. Hitting a button on his intercom he said "Get me Anko,"

Ignoring the curious stares the old monkey continued, "Right then you two, you will both be placed on a probation period of three months before you are allowed to do missions outside of the village," Sarutobi said to the two. He noted that Zabuza's right eye was twitching in annoyance as the swordsman remembered his days as a genin and the 'missions' he did inside the village.

"If you think I'm going to be doing D-ranks you're getting my sword shoved up your ass," Zabuza growled at Hiruzen. Haku then gave him a smack to the back of the head and snapped "Manners!" Naruto snickered at that, receiving a disapproving glare from Yoku and a death glare from the demon of the mist. Sakura just palmed her face while Kakashi read his book. Sasuke just sat there off in his own little fantasy world that involved killing Itachi and restoring his clan. Hiruzen sweatdropped at the scene before him and sighed.

'_Why do I always get the strange shinobi?'_ thought the hokage. "Anyway during that time, Haku you will be working as an intern at the hospital and Zabuza you will be working with a partner," Sarutobi said with a smirk.

Zabuza quirked an eyebrow at that when suddenly a woman appeared in a swirl of leaves. She was about half a head shorter than Zabuza and had purple hair tied in a strange bun that gave her head a bit of a peacock look. She had brown eyes, fair skin and an athletic build. What really caught everyone's attention was what she was wearing. She had on a mesh wire shirt that hugged her body and an orange skimpy skirt that barely reached mid thigh. She was wearing basic shinobi sandals and tan shin and arm guards. Completing her look was a tan trench coat with wide sleeves and her Konoha headband tied firmly on her head in the regular fashion. At that moment Doku walked in and stared at the scantily clad women who had turned to see who had entered the room along with everyone else.

Doku just stood there, hand still on the door and foot stopped in mid step. He had a blank look on his face as he just examined the female specimen in front of him with a blank face. Soon his eyebrow started to twitch and his mouth started to open and close like a fish. In his mind a robotic voice was saying _'Warning! Warning! Perversion senses overloaded by class 5 female codenamed Sensuous Snake being in close proximity of unit, initiate system shutdown and expulsion of excess fluid through nasal cavities' _with that Doku was catapulted out of the room by a massive nosebleed that slammed him into the wall of the hallway and left him in an unconscious heap with a lecherous grin adorning his face along with glazed over eyes and bloodied upper lip.

Naruto was laughing his ass off at his brother while Yoku just facepalmed. Haku looked on in some confusion while the three other males snickered at the young boy's display. Anko smirked, basking in the glow of once again causing another of the male species to fall for her sex appeal. Sasuke just rolled his eyes at the 'inferiority of his teammate'. Sakura however was furious.

Suddenly Sakura leaped across the room at Doku and started to beat the living daylights out of him all the while screaming "YOU GOD DAMNED PERVERT!". The unfortunate pervert started screaming "Uncle! Uncle! I'm sorry! Somebody help! Uncle!" after about five minutes of watching this amusing display, Sarutobi coughed to gain the attention of everyone but they just continued to watch the pummeling with amusement and interest except for Yoku who just watched the scene with growing aggravation. Hiruzen tried once again to restore order but again he was ignored, except for Naruto who gave him a smirk, held up three fingers and started to count down.

As soon as the last finger went down Yoku exploded. The grey-eyed Tsuuro grabbed both Sakura and Doku by their collars and shouted "ENOUGH!" Turning the two so they were staring at him he addressed each one with a cold voice, "Doku you will learn to control your hormones and Sakura you will learn to control your temper or so help me I'll tie both of you to posts in the middle of the forest of death smothered head to toe in BARBEQUE SAUCE! Do I make myself clear?" both genin nodded in fear at the angered shinobi before them. "Good, now shut up and listen to Hokage-sama or I will make good on my word," Yoku threatened.

Sarutobi quirked an eyebrow and just assumed that even Yoku, patience of a saint Tsuuro, had his breaking points and when he did, it was best to not aggravate him further. "So what did ya need hokage-sama?" Anko asked her leader, effectively breaking him out of his musings about the Tsuuro.

"Ah yes, Anko I'd like you to meet your partner for the up and coming chuunin exams," Sarutobi grinned as he gestured to a shocked Zabuza. Both ninja stared at each other, sizing the other up or checking each other out. Doku seemed envious but otherwise stayed silent and sent Zabuza a secret thumbs up and the large man just smirked under his bandages and sent Doku a small victory signthat went unnoticed by everyone except for Yoku and a simmering Sakura.

"So who exactly is this guy anyway?" Anko asked. Zabuza had a small sweatdrop on his head and thought _'This chick is a jounin and doesn't even know the name of the most notorious of the seven swordsmen?'_

"This is Zabuza Mamochi, a former nuke-nin of Kiri and one of he Seven Swordsmen," Sarutobi responded in a deadpan.

Anko just shrugged and turned to the big man, "Well come on then big guy, we have work to do, the chuunin exams are only a week away and we've got a lot of fun planned for the gakis," she said and with that grabbed the man by his large sword and dragged him out of the room with a giant grin on her face.

"Right then, lets move on to the matter of you Sasuke," Sarutobi said as he faced the boy. The Uchiha just stared back uncaringly. "A third of your earnings from this mission shall be given to Doku as will all missions your team takes for the next three months," at this statement Sasuke looked at the hokage disbelievingly.

"What? Why should I hand over a third of MY money from missions to this clanless loser?" Sasuke demanded. "Its not my fault the idiot got caught in my substitution jutsu!" declared the boy.

Surprisingly it was Yoku who answered, "Sasuke whether you knowingly or unknowingly used the jutsu on Doku, under no circumstances is a shinobi to use substitution when allies can easily be caught within it. Konoha prides itself on teamwork and to use your allies as an escape route is punishable with discharge from the shinobi ranks and having your chakra sealed, a fate worse than death for a ninja," stated the grey eyed boy in a voice that actually made Sasuke step back in shock, not at the voice but at the deadly serious tone. He had just barely dodged the bullet that could have ended his dream of killing Itachi.

Sarutobi nodded at the young Tsuuro, silently thanking him for explaining it. Sometimes though the hokage wondered how Yoku knew these things. "You're all dismissed, Kakashi give them and yourself the rest of the day off, you've all earned it," Kakashi gave a grateful nod and left the room in a poof of smoke. As the genin were leaving, the hokage spoke up once more, "Yoku I do have a request thought," the hokage said, making everyone stop except for Sasuke who just left. Sakura looked like she wanted to follow but she was a gossip queen, so she had to know what the request was.

"What do you wish of me hokage-sama?" Yoku asked politely.

"I want you to go around Konoha with Haku-chan here and show her the lay of the land, also try and find a place for her and her father to stay," Hiruzen said with a hidden smirk as he watched Yoku's eyes widen slightly and Haku get a pink hue on her cheeks. Naruto quirked an ear as he heard Yoku's heartbeat increase incredibly and actually heard Haku's stop for a full three seconds. A slow smile crept across the fox boy's features.

'_You sneaky old perverted monkey'_ Naruto thought with a slight snigger. Suddenly a thought hit Naruto like a thunderbolt. He had the day off, an A-rank mission pay and he was quite sure team 8 was still in Konoha. "Well guys I have something to do so if you don't mind I'll be on my way!" Naruto said as he leaped onto the windowsill, "Enjoy your tour with Yoku, Haku!" shouted Naruto as he leapt out the window towards the Hyuuga compound. The other members just stared on in surprise at the blonde's exit, except for the Tsuuro twins who just shared a knowing smirk.

"Where's he going?" Sakura asked no one in particular.

Doku looked at her with a small smile and in a serious voice said, "A place where a certain heiress will be very happy to see him and even more ecstatic at his proposition," At this Sakura's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, while Yoku just smiled and Haku looked even more confused.

**Hyuuga Compound**

Hinata Hyuuga was having a very pleasant day; in fact her day was almost perfect! Her father, the ever cold and stoic Hiashi, had actually complimented her on her jyuuken, which was actually coming along fairly well. Still nowhere near Neji's level but in a straight gentle fist fight, she beat one out of every three of her opponents. Speaking of Neji, she hadn't seen hide or hair of her ever-cold cousin, so for once she went without his glare. Lastly, the elders had all been stuck in some meeting so they didn't bother her either.

Currently, she was sitting in the garden on a stone bench next to the koi pond, leaning back with her face to the sun and a content smile on her face. She sighed as her mind drifted off to the one thing that could make her day absolutely perfect, and that would be to spend time with her blonde infatuation.

A blush crossed her face as she thought about the fox boy, he and the Tsuuro twins were the first friends she had ever made, but it was Naruto who stole her heart. He was the one who went out of his way to talk to her at the academy, the one to cheer her on and still congratulate her even when she failed or didn't do as well as the others. She smiled as she remembered the day she met Naruto and the twins.

_Flashback_

It was lunchtime on the second month of the academy and Hinata Hyuuga was having a bad day. She had been eating her lunch alone when some bullies came along. Not just any bullies though they were FEMALE bullies, and a female bully is much worse than a male one due to the simple fact that they tend to attack you mentally on a scale that even Ibiki is wary of. Many referred to them as the future bitches of Konoha, though if you said that out loud when they were within earshot, you tended to go home with bruises, scratches and in a state of depression. Poor Hinata, as shy and unconfident as she was, was unable to defend herself at all against her tormentors.

She had already burst into tears and her attackers were currently laughing at her when a loud voice shouted "Get away from her!" turning, Hinata and the afore mentioned future bi- I mean, mean spirited women of Konoha turned to see a small blonde boy with a white shirt, khaki shorts and worn out sandals glaring at them with the bluest eyes Hinata had ever seen. Seeing the three whisker marks on each cheek, she immediately recognized the boy as Naruto Uzumaki,.

"What did you say shrimp?" asked a random girl, taking a jab at Naruto's height. Some of the others snickered at that, but Naruto stood strong, not even bothered by the comment.

"I said leave her alone you heartless harpies!" Naruto cried as he walked through the group of astonished girls and planted himself firmly in front of Hinata. The girl could only stare on in awe at the person defending her. All her life she had been considered weak, and therefore a complete waste of time. Imagine her shock as she watched someone actually defend her! What's more, Hinata knew of these girls and everyone knew that you did NOT annoy, insult or deny them lest you want your eyes clawed out by fake nails. Whoever this boy was either incredibly brave or unbelievably stupid.

The leader of the girls stepped forward then, she was wearing a black midriff shirt, a black skirt and shin high blue shinobi sandals. She had perfect brown hair, long silky and straight and the most dazzling jade eyes. She'd be a heartbreaker when she grew up and she knew it. Her name was Hanahime Netamu, one of the prettiest girls at the school, too bad her personality also made her little more than a spoiled rotten princess. That also wasn't far from the truth since her family WAS related to the daimyo, thus making them VERY rich. The only reason the girl was even here was for the Uchiha.

"And what will you do if we don't, demon?" Hanahime said in a snooty voice. She had heard her parents call the boy that and she had been told to never let this kid have anything to do with her on a friendly basis.

Naruto frowned at the demon comment and said, "Try me and find out!" he threatened. In reality Naruto was flying by the seat of his pants, he'd just seen the shy heiress being tormented and had immediately stepped in to help with no real plan of attack. If it was one thing Naruto hated it was bullies and he refused to have anyone be harassed by them while he was around to stop it. Now here he was, defending a girl who was damn near royalty from a pack of vicious females that would have no problem hurting him. He also knew that if he attempted to actually physically harm them, especially Hanahime, he'd end up with a mob after him… again.

"What going on over here?" shouted a deep voice. Once again, everyone looked to see a large and muscled boy with brown hair and red eyes marching over to the small crowd. Beside him was a boy a head shorter than him with the same brown hair but with grey eyes and a leaner, more athletic build. Naruto sighed with relief as he saw the twins walk over. If anything, Yoku could diffuse the situation or Doku could start showing off his muscle to the girls while he escaped with Hinata.

The leader smirked as she saw the larger boy. _'Now the midget is gonna pay' _Hanahime though as she put on her best sad expression and pout. "Its that little boy! He was being mean to Hinata and we just came to make him stop! Then he started threatening us! Please make him stop," she whined as she put on her puppy-dog face.

Doku raised an eyebrow and looked at the other girls who were following the first's lead. Looking over to Naruto he saw incredible annoyance and frustration written across the jinchuuriki's face. Finally he looked over to Hinata to see a look of disbelief and slight anger on her face. Puzzled on what to do he looked down towards his brother for advice.

The grey eyed-boy sighed as he looked at the situation. If he believed the girls (which he didn't) then Naruto would be in some VERY serious trouble with not only the village, but with the Hyuuga as well. Naruto didn't need that, especially since the Hyuuga showed no real animosity towards Naruto, hell, the branch members actually liked the blonde. If he did nothing then the girls would attack Naruto and they'd be forced to fight, something unneeded. Suddenly a light bulb went off in the boy's head and he quickly whispered something in his brother's ear before dashing off.

"Where'd your friend go?" asked Hanahime cutely.

"Getting a teacher to deal with him," Doku said with a false glare towards Naruto. While the girls weren't looking he sent the blonde a quick smirk and wink. Naruto looked confused before he spotted something that made his eyes bug out to epic proportions. Curious everyone turned to see what he was staring at and their jaws hit the floor. Remembering what Yoku said, Doku quickly pulled himself together and tried not to burst out laughing.

There was the cutest girl anyone had ever seen, she had blonde hair pulled into pig tails, a beautiful round face and tanned unblemished skin with the bluest most innocent eyes ever. She was wearing a blue skirt, basic sandals and a white button up dress shirt. What really caught everyone's attention is who the girl was With.

There, walking hand in hand with the girl and the brightest smile anyone had ever seen on him was Sasuke Uchiha. The ever-cold boy, the untouchable heartthrob and general all around cool guy of their generation, was walking with the girl like he had won the best prize in the universe. He was laughing, actually laughing and talking with her!

Slowly, the faces of the group of girls changed from that of shocked to one of slowly growing rage and extreme envy. Suddenly, the Uchiha whispered something in the girl's ear which made her giggle with a bit of a blush and the two dashed off to the back of the academy. That was too much for the girls watching. With a horrific roar the group of girls surged forward and went to attack the couple.

Once the girls were gone, Yoku appeared laughing his ass off with Doku soon following after. Confused Naruto asked, "What's so funny?"

Settling down Yoku straightened up and chuckled a bit before he turned to Naruto with a smirk, "That my friend was not Sasuke Uchiha and nor was that a girl," he replied confusing Naruto a bit.

"But if they weren't Sasuke or a girl what were they?" the young blonde asked with his head tilted to the side. Hinata giggled at the blonde's confused expression, silently noting with a blush that he looked rather cute like that.

"They were the simplest of all things, bunshins with a henge," Yoku replied making Hinata's eyes widen in surprise and Naruto nod in final understanding.

"B-but we do-don't learn that t-t-till next year" Hinata stammered in confusion. How did this kid know jutsu? The only ones who knew jutsu at this age were clan prodigies and they only knew their clan's jutsus! How did this boy know the basic academy ones?

Yoku shrugged, "In the ninja world its not always the strongest who will win, or the one with the more powerful jutsu, knowledge can be just as deadly as a kunai" replied the grey-eyed boy. Seeing her looking confused Yoku decided to explain, "For example, an entire army could be following you out for your head, however lets say you are both in a very swampy area and you know every inch of the swamp but the army following you doesn't. Meaning you could just easily lose them or lead them into traps like gator-infested areas, quicksand even into mud pits. See what I mean?" Yoku explained.

Hinata nodded at that, it did make sense. She then stood up and bowed to the three boys saying "Arigato for getting rid of those bullies,"

Doku waved it off, "No problem, we really can't stand for bullies anyway," said the tall boy.

Naruto then turned to the girl with a questioning look, "Why were those girls bullying you anyway? Aren't you the heiress to the Hyuuga clan?" he asked. At this Hinata just stared at the ground.

"I-I d-don't know why, th-they just came o-over here a-a-and started making fun of me, t-t-they kept calling me we-weak and u-u-ugly and.." she had started out quiet but her voice cracked and she silently started to sob. Why? Why couldn't she be like the other Hyuuga? Why did she have to be so shy and kind when the rest of her clan was regal and stoic? Those were the thoughts going through the lavender-eyed girl's mind.

She would have broken down right then and there if it wasn't for a sudden warmth and the feeling of someone's arms around her. Puzzled she looked up and was met with crystal blue eyes filled with concern and warmth. Staring into those eyes she felt something she hadn't felt since her mother died, she felt comforted and warm.

Naruto smiled at her and spoke "I don't think your ugly, in fact you're actually, um, pretty cute," Naruto said sheepishly, a pink hue on his cheeks.

From that day on, Naruto and Hinata had become great friends, but neither one really admitted to the crush they had on each other, both fearing the other would reject their affection.

**Flashback End**

Hinata sighed once more, while it was true she had much more confidence after making friends with the energetic blonde and the twins, she still couldn't cope with th idea of Naruto rejecting her. She feared that if she even asked him, their friendship would be compromised and she would lose her first and best friend. She didn't want that, it was the one thing Hinata cherished more than the picture of her mother.

Suddenly a very familiar face and a very familiar grin entered her vision, not more than three inches from her face. "Hey Hinata-chan! Want to go on a date?" Naruto asked, well tried. His entrance had surprised Hinata so badly that once he had finished his sentence Hinata had given him a jyuuken strike straight to his stomach that was so strong it actually made Naruto fly through a wall into none other that Hiashi Hyuuga's study.

Hiashi blinked at the boy lying in a dazed heap on his floor, "So I'm guessing she said no?" asked the clan head with some well hidden amusement. Hinata then appeared through the newly made hole and started apologizing as quickly as she could, repeating sorry over and over again and hoping he wasn't dead. When Naruto didn't respond she panicked and started shaking him, hoping to wake him up causing Naruto to be moved about like a ragdoll, which only added to his current dizziness.

Trying to hold in his laughter Hiashi stood and put a hand on Hinata's shoulder making her stop shaking the fox boy. "Daughter if you wish to help Naruto-san it would be best not to keep shaking him like that," he explained. Immediately the heiress stopped and Naruto shook his head to rid himself of the stars in his head.

"Now Naruto why don't you try asking your question again," Hiashi said with a hidden smile.

Chuckling a bit Naruto asked again, "Hinata, do you want to go on a date with me?"

For a second she just stood there, one sentence going through her head repeatedly. _'Naruto asked me on a date, NARUTO asked me on a date, Naruto asked ME on a date, Naruto asked me on a DATE'_ the thought went and probably would have gone on for a while if not for a small chibi Hinata with the kanji inner tattooed on her forehead screaming at her to say yes. "YES!" Hinata said as if her life depended on it, shocking both males. "I-I mean I'd love to go on a date with you Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a furious blush.

Naruto then got a grin that only a person who won the lottery got on their face. "GREAT! I'll pick you up around 6 for dinner and a movie! See ya then Hinata-chan," with that the blonde dashed out of the compound cheering and shouting the entire way that he had a date with the most beautiful chick in Konoha. Unfortunately before he had heard the boy's cheering, Hinata had passed out as soon as the blonde left with a giant grin and blush on her face.

Hiashi sighed at his daughter and allowed a smile and chuckle to escape his ever stoic mask. _'You are definitely his son Naruto and you are no doubt your mother's daughter Hinata'_ Hiashi thought as he walked out of his study and gazed at the hokage monument.

**A/N: Done! Next chapter we have a date between Naruto and Hinata, maybe a little drama and the start of the chuunin exams. Remember to review and sorry its been a while but I've got school again so bleh :P. Any way be sure to check out my other story laughter of the broken and drunken shinobi! Till next time!**


	9. First Date

"A Warrior, An Archer and A Fox

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

**A/N: Hey everyone! Well we are starting up the chuunin exams soon so I have a question, should I have Doku, Yoku and Naruto make it to the finals or just Naruto? Anyway give me an opinion before prelims, till then lets get this story going.**

Naruto stood in front of the mirror, making sure he didn't have any spots, marks or anything else that may make Hinata think he was disgusting. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the outfit he was wearing and grimaced slightly at the clothing.

The fox boy was wearing a black blazer and white shirt underneath with some simple black slacks. What really irked him was the fact that he had put some black sneakers on, which really made him feel restricted. He just didn't like not having the feeling of ground underneath his toes and he absolutely despised the dark brown socks he was wearing. Damn things made his feet feel like they were in their own personal sauna. And they itched like mad!

'_Guess I should just be glad that I didn't want to be formal'_ Naruto thought with a shutter. He did NOT want to ever be caught in a suit or formal kimono or any clothing that restricted his movements. The fox boy preferred loose clothing, but he knew his usual clothes wouldn't cut it for a first date.

"**Looking good kit, but next time, ditch these clothes or at least ditch the shoes and socks, freaking things are annoying,"** Kyuubi complimented his container. The demon, too, hated the footwear. **"Or at least wear sandals next time,"**

'_No argument there Tou-san'_ Naruto agreed. _'Uh, Tou-san? Can I ask you something?'_ the blonde asked hesitantly.

"**Shoot,"** the fox replied casually.

'_Um, what exactly should I DO on my date?'_ Naruto asked. He knew that they were going to see a movie and before that grab some dinner at a restaurant that wasn't too fancy or too cheap. What was freaking him out is what HE should do.

There was a pause as the fox started to think the question over. **"Well… the best advice I can give is just be yourself,"** Kyuubi stated lamely.

'_Don't you have any better advice?'_ Naruto deadpanned.

"**Look when it comes to demons taking on a mate its pretty straightforward. You just say you like them and if they like you back you mark them. Easy, sweet and to the point,"** Kyuubi defended.

'_Then what should I do?'_ Naruto asked.

"**Why don't you ask one of your brothers? Or that Sakura girl? They'd know more about this than I would, but you'd better hurry, you're expected at the Hyuuga compound in three hours and one thing I do know is that the female species despises being left waiting," **the demon said with a slight shudder. His fur still hadn't grown fully back from that encounter with Nibi when he was an hour late.

As Naruto left he thought _'I hope Hinata doesn't know any fire jutsu'_ a slight shiver going down his spine.

**Training ground 34**

As Naruto neared the training ground that he and his brothers usually used, he heard the sound of battle. Startled, the fox boy leapt to the underbrush and changed into his fox form at regular fox size and crept closer to the sound of clashing metal and roaring water.

Soon Naruto had arrived at a strange clearing. In the middle of it was a large cliff with a waterfall and large lake at the bottom. The area was surrounded by forest but the cliff was more like a hill that gently slopes upward on one side but on the other side was rocky walls, the waterfall and a sheer thirty-foot drop to the large lake below. As the blonde peered out of the bushes he spotted four figures.

Two of the figures were on the shore watching the other two figures that were battling on the lake with amazing acrobatics. Naruto immediately recognized the scents as Sakura and Doku being on the shore with Yoku and Haku fighting on the lake. Curious, the blonde went forward to find out what his friends were doing and why Haku and Yoku were fighting.

Doku really couldn't believe the fight he was watching, it was more of a dance than a fight really. He watched as the two engaged in Taijutsu on the waters surface, twirling around each other to get at vital points that would disable their opponent, but when one got close the other would simply dodge or bat it away then attempt to capitalize on the strike all the while neither one standing still. Whether it was a lunge, jab or just a simple pivoting of the foot, the two were in a deadly dance. One missed step and they would be crippled, completely at the mercy of the other.

At some unspoken command both fighters leapt apart from each other and started to toss kunai and senbon at speeds no mortal eye could follow and with an accuracy that couldn't be matched.

Naruto looked on in awe at that display as he sat down next to Doku who just gave him a quick glance before his attention was back on the weapons clashing in the air. Suddenly both combatants stopped throwing their weapons and did some quick handseals. As they finished there was a great rush of air and an explosion of water. When it cleared it showed both combatants with senbons at the others jugular and other hand poised in a hand spear aimed directly at their opposition's trachea.

"It appears we are at a stalemate," Haku stated in a monotone, her chocolate eyes never leaving Yoku's cold grey eyes.

"You are very good Haku-chan, your accuracy with senbon is astounding," Yoku complimented the girl in an equally flat voice. Neither one had relaxed their positions yet.

"Thank you, Yoku-kun you are very adept at tomeruken (halting fist), who taught you?" Haku asked.

The two finally did disengage this time, with Yoku having a confused look on his face. "Tomeruken? Is that the style I've been using?" Yoku asked.

Haku raised an eyebrow at that and got an unsure look herself. "Yes, its the same style I use, I learned it from Tou-san. Well, he actually just gave me a scroll on it with the katas while Zabuza helped me out here and there," Haku explained as the two walked towards shore. "Are you telling me you thought you had created this style and you didn't actually learn this from anyone or anywhere?"

"I actually learned it from an untitled scroll I found in the library, but it just made references and some descriptions to the style, not the actual katas," Yoku explained as some realization started to hit. "Oh I must have found an overview for it and made connections on my own," Yoku said with a small sheepish smile.

Haku just stared at him in some small awe. It had taken her years to get at the level she was at which was pretty much mastery with a few techniques she hadn't yet mastered but could still pull off. While Yoku was only about one year younger than her he had gotten to her level WITHOUT the help of an instructor or the actual scroll and katas. This kid had to be some kind of genius or had some kind of bloodline that allowed him to learn and analyze at inhuman speeds.

She paused as that thought hit her. _'If he has a bloodline then wouldn't his brother have one as well? But that can't be, their styles and intelligence levels are completely different'_ Haku thought dismissively.

"Nice fight guys," Doku commented when the two finally reached shore.

"Nice fight nothing, that was amazing!" Sakura exclaimed. Yoku chuckled at that while Haku turned her head away shyly at the praise.

"Why were you two fighting anyway? Also why did you guys bring both Sakura AND Haku to our training site?" Naruto asked curiously. While he knew that the training grounds were open to anyone, everyone except the hokage and some select few shinobi had long since forgotten about this one. Hell, Naruto and the Tsuuro twins had just found it by accident one day when on a group hunt for some bigger and more violent game. They had sworn not to reveal this place to anyone except those that they trusted with their hearts and lives, besides, a secret training ground guaranteed privacy and killed the chance of anyone coming to find you practicing some of your more secret techniques.

"Relax Naruto, while I was giving a tour, Sakura and Doku decided to come along with me to help point out some of the other important areas. Afterwards, Doku wanted to go train with this taijutsu style I found for him in the library so we went to a training ground but it was… taken," Yoku said a slight frown on his face as he finished.

Doku snorted at that. "Tainted is a better word if you ask me. The damn Uchiha was training there and kept bugging Haku about becoming the mother of a new Uchiha clan and how being one of his wives is the highest of honors," Doku said as he spat on the ground in disgust. "Needless to say, Sakura actually suggested we leave and that's how we ended up here. Just hope that pig didn't follow us," Doku finished.

"If Sasuke is a pig then what does that make you?" Sakura asked Doku shrewdly. Doku smirked at the fact that Sakura hadn't said 'kun' with the Uchiha's name.

"I may be a pervert but I follow the golden rule that all perverts follow, look but don't touch," Doku stated nobly, a fist over his heart and his face turned to the sky.

"Ok," Naruto started lowly, "but why were Haku and Yoku fighting?" he asked.

"While watching Doku practice his new style, I figured I'd practice my own. Haku-chan then started to spar with me because she knew the style as well," Yoku explained, "we then moved on to some target practice then one thing led to another and we decided to have the spar you just saw," finished the brown haired boy.

"Anyway what are you even doing here Naruto? I thought you went to ask Hinata out on a date," Doku inquired.

Immediately Naruto smacked his head in remembrance of why he had come in the first place. "Gah! That's right! I'm supposed to take Hinata to dinner then to a movie at 6! That's only two hours away!" he shouted in panic.

'Whoa, calm down Naruto, now how about you explain what you're doing here rather than preparing for your date?" Sakura asked patiently though on the inside she could barely contain the questions she wanted to ask the blonde. This was the juiciest gossip ever! The village pariah was going out with someone akin to royalty!

Quickly Naruto explained that he had already reserved a nice restaurant and had planned for them to see the new Princess Gale movie. He also explained why he was wearing rather nice clothes and, much to everyone's surprise and Haku's confusion (poor girl), why he was wearing shoes. The blonde also said how he had absolutely NO idea on what he was supposed to do, to bring or talk about!

"Whoa relax Naruto, all you need is to bring yourself and just do what you intend to do, take Hinata out to dinner and a movie," Doku said with a slight smirk. "As for what to talk about, compliment her on how she looks like her-," here Sakura interrupted him by giving him a firm smack to the back of his head.

"Don't even THINK about finishing that sentence Doku!" Sakura shouted, the power of feminine wrath burning in her eyes. A truly terrifying sight for the pervert who had been on the receiving end of many stares like that, and they all promised pain. The boy gave a sheepish smile and put his hands up in a placating gesture. Amazing how a girl a head shorter than him with not even half his weight could scare him so badly.

"Doku is right though Naruto," Sakura stated seriously, "This is just a first date, a test to see how you two interact and a way to get to know each other, so just talk about things, ask her what she likes, dislikes, favorite places anything really but make sure you LISTEN," emphasized the girl, "Women like it when you actually listen and talk with them, that way they know you are interested in them, not just their bodies," Sakura finished.

Naruto nodded in understanding at that. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Yes," Yoku replied stepping forward. "Be yourself above everything else," the grey-eyed boy said with a smile. "Now get going, you have an hour before your date starts," Yoku finished.

Naruto stood there confused for a second, then, "MEEEERP! Hold on Hinata I'm coming!" and with that, Naruto left at a speed that actually broke the sound barrier.

"Merp?" Haku asked.

"Merp, a word said in either panic, shock, anger, boredom or depression," Yoku explained. "Its also said to just be annoying,"

"Merp,"

"DON'T EVEN START DOKU!" Sakura yelled.

**At the Hyuuga compound, Hinata's room**

Hinata Hyuuga checked over her appearance in her mirror one more time to make sure she looked good. She had put on a pale blue jacket, zipped up of course, coupled with some black pants and some simple black slip on shoes and lavender socks. She hoped that Naruto would like the way she looked because in her eyes she looked quite plain.

There was a knock on her door and the heiress turned and called out "Come in," In walked Hanabi Hyuuga, Hinata's little sister, though Hanabi and Hinata didn't really have a 'sisterly bond'. Actually Hanabi viewed Hinata as an oddball as did the rest of the clan except for most of the branch members but she wasn't disgusted with it like the others. While she didn't think her sister was undeserving of the title heiress or weak like the clan elders and other main house members, she frowned upon the fact that Hinata went after the dead last of the academy and the village pariah to boot. That and the boy was everything a Hyuuga wasn't.

Where the Hyuuga were stoic, void of emotion and serious. Naruto was outspoken, filled with life and generally silly and fun. In Hanabi's opinion, a better choice would be the grey-eyed boy Yoku Tsuuro. Now he was almost exactly like a model Hyuuga's personality should be, though he still had some quirks.

"Hello Hanabi-chan, what are you doing here?" Hinata asked pleasantly.

"I came to ask you something," Hanabi said simply.

"And that would be?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Why do you like that Uzumaki boy?" Hanabi asked in a slight frustrated tone.

Hinata smiled slightly at that. "Hanabi, what do you know about Naruto-kun?" she asked patiently.

Hanabi looked thoughtful for a moment. "I know that he is the dead last of your class, that he is disliked, borderline hated by many of the villagers and he's an orphan that lives with the Tsuuro twins, Yoku and Doku," she stated. "He is also a prankster and somewhat animalistic, both in appearances and personality," finished the Hyuuga.

"Very good Hanabi, now based off that he's not much and the last person the Hyuuga heiress should be dating correct?" Hinata asked. Hanabi nodded at that but wondered what her sister was getting at. "But Naruto is so much more than that Hanabi," Hinata explained.

"Naruto is kind and loyal. He will do anything to protect those precious to him, lay his life on the line to protect not only his precious people but as well as the village that hates him. While I'm sure many would have given up long ago, Naruto keeps going on, never giving up, never faltering. No matter what people do to him or say to him he stays happy and keeps going. Naruto is so much more than people see him as," Hinata explained with a far off look in her eye.

"So, you like him because he never gives up?" Hanabi asked in confusion. While the trait in itself was admirable, it was also very foolish because a good shinobi had to know when to give up and just call it quits.

"That is a reason Hanabi, but when you start to like someone, you'll find out that you like them for more than just one simple reason," Hinata said as she walked out of her room after glancing at the clock to see that Naruto would be there any minute. So the heiress left, leaving behind a confused and slightly annoyed Hanabi.

As soon as Hinata got to the gate she noticed a dust cloud in the distance. Confused she watched as the dust cloud got bigger and bigger until she realized that it wasn't getting bigger, it was getting closer! Warily she got into a ready stance, glad she had decided on not dressing formally, because if this cloud was a threat than a dress would only end up being a problem, and problems in the ninja world are almost always life threatening. Suddenly the moving dust cloud stopped right in front of the heiress, strange noises issuing forth from the kicked up debris. When it cleared there stood one Naruto Uzumaki, bent completely over and panting like a dog.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Am I late?" Naruto asked after regaining his breath and looked up with a little fear. Hinata blinked and shook her head no. Naruto sighed in relief at that, "So you ready to go Hina-chan?" he asked as he offered his arm.

Hinata smiled at that, a small blush on her face as she nodded again and took the offered limb. "Oh right, almost forgot," Naruto stated. Pulling his arm away, the blonde did three quick handseals causing red chakra to form around him for the briefest of moments. Once the chakra vanished, Hinata now looked to see a dirty blonde haired boy with hazel blue eyes regular pupils, no whisker marks and regular canines. He still had the wild hair and somewhat sharp nails but now people wouldn't even recognize him as Naruto. If Hinata hadn't just seen the change she would suspect he was related to the Inuzuka and nothing more.

Seeing Hinata's confused expression Naruto gave her a big grin and explained, "Tou-san taught me this jutsu. It's a henge that actually transforms you, not an illusion, but you need certain chakra to do it," Seeing she still was confused his smile lessened a bit, "I kind of need it so you don't get glared at it and we can actually get our dinner reservations," he said in as much cheer as he could muster. Without another word he offered his arm again and Hinata once again took it, although this time she was a bit slower in doing so.

They walked in silence for a time, getting the odd glance here and there but not the glares or whispers that Naruto had become accustomed to. Instead he was met with gazes of indifference at the worst and gazes of curiosity at the best. When they were halfway to their destination Hinata finally spoke, "Naruto-kun, where exactly are we going?" she asked. Inwardly she thought that they might be going to the ramen stand, but they were actually going in the complete opposite direction. Granted, she really didn't want to go to Ichiraku's for a first date but she had reasoned that it was probably the only eatery that served Naruto.

"Can't tell you that Hina-chan, it's a surprise," Naruto replied with a foxy grin. Hinata just gave a shy smile in return and cuddled closer to the blonde in response. Soon the two stopped in front of a restaurant called Akamichi Dining, an eatery run by the non shinobi members of the rather round Akamichi clan.

"Here we are!" Naruto proclaimed loudly as he stepped into the restaurant and went up to the host. (A.N: The person who meets, greets and seats people) The man was a rather short figure in a tuxedo with a pencil thin mustache under an upturned nose, haughty expression and slicked back black hair.

"Hello there young man and lady, how may I help?" asked the man in a polite crisp tone.

"Hello there, I believe I have reservations for two under the name Uzumaki?" Naruto told the man with a pleasant smile. The man turned his head down to look at the book on his rather tall podium.

"Ah yes, please follow me and allow me to show you to your table," said the man as he jumped down from his podium revealing him to be half the size of Naruto. Hinata stifled a giggle as the small man led them to a booth near the back of the restaurant. "Your waiter shall be with you shortly, so here are your menus and I hope you enjoy your meal," said the man handing them each a menu before he scurried away.

As Hinata viewed the menu her eyes started to bug out of her head as she stared at the prices of each meal. The courses were priced higher than any income a genin like Naruto should have! The only way Naruto could afford this was if he had saved up since BEFORE he became a shinobi, but considering how everyone overpriced him, it should be impossible for him to have made reservations AND afford to pay for two people to eat.

"Um, Naruto?" Hinata asked in a worried tone. She wanted to ask him how much this night was costing him. She didn't want to sound mean or anything but she also didn't want her infatuation to be throwing away money that would be vital for him to get new gear and food. The blonde had enough financial problems as it was, what with being overpriced at almost every store.

"Yes Hina-chan?" Naruto asked as he looked up from his menu with a kind smile. It changed though when he caught sight of her worried look to a confused frown. "Is something wrong?"

"Um, exactly, uh I mean…" Hinata started trying to find the right words. "How much are you paying for this date?" Hinata asked. She cringed slightly when Naruto's frown turned into one of shock and then into confusion once again.

"About 1500 ryo, why?" stated the blonde.

Hinata barely contained her gasp at the reply. _'1500 ryo? That's more money than I make on three days of straight D-ranks!'_ thought the girl. "Naruto how exactly are you paying for this?" Hinata asked a little loudly. Some other people sent questioning stares to their booth but went back to their own business, though now they were keeping an ear towards the couple.

Naruto still looked confused for a second before realization started to dawn on him. _'Shes worried that I'm taking a chunk out of my own savings for this date'_ Naruto thought before chuckling a bit. _'Better tell her about my A-rank mission pay before she starts having a heart attack'_ the blonde thought. "Hinata-chan I really appreciate your concern for me financially, but don't worry this date isn't going to put me on the street or anything like that," Naruto reassured the girl.

"Then how are you affording this? No Genin could afford to eat like this," Hinata inquired now showing genuine curiosity.

And so Naruto retold the tale of his team's C turned A-rank mission although he left out the parts of Doku's fear of water and when he lost control of his demonic chakra. The blonde also made sure not to tell her about his whole lecture on Inari and instead told her that he was just a sad kid who later got set back on the right path. He only paused when the waiter came to take their orders and when Hinata would ask a question. He finished his tale just as the food arrived.

"Wow Naruto-kun, that's amazing!" Hinata stated as she took a bite out of her food. She was surprised at just how good the food was. And she had only ordered some simple stir-fry!

Naruto grinned as he took another bite out of his steak. **"Dear Kami this meat tastes like it was made from Kami's own personal cattle!'** Kyuubi exclaimed as he got another taste from Naruto's shared taste buds.

"I guess but how have you been Hinata? It's felt like forever since I've talked to you and I want to know how my Hina-chan has been," Naruto stated with a grin not really realizing he said the 'my' part. This of course caused Hinata to blush profusely and revert back to her old stuttering self for a while. However she soon regained her composure and started telling Naruto about her own sensei and teammates.

She told Naruto about her sensei, Kurenai Yuhi, the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha. Apparently, Kurenai was a lot like a mother or older sister to Hinata, always helping her, looking out for her and giving her advice. Kurenai was also helping Hinata develop her own version of Jyuuken. The style though, wasn't quite ready for an actual fight against an actual Hyuuga so Hinata had been speeding up the basics of Jyuuken so she would have a speed advantage over other Jyuuken users. All in all, Naruto was extremely happy that Hinata had found such a good sensei.

"What about your teammates?" Naruto asked.

At that Hinata frowned slightly. "Kiba is… friendly," stated the girl slowly.

"Friendly?" Naruto asked. "As in he is nice or as in hes a bit too close for comfort?"

Hinata sighed at that, "The second, he's been asking me out a lot, practically every training meet," she paused, "sometimes he gets a bit bold," she explained.

At that Naruto started to growl and had subconsciously lost control of his henge so that his pupils turned to their usual slits and Hinata swore she saw them turn red. "What exactly has he done Hinata?" Naruto asked with barely restrained fury. The look on his face scared Hinata a bit, but Naruto misinterpreted the look and started to leak some K.I.

Sensing the danger Hinata quickly grabbed Naruto's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Naruto please calm down, the most Kiba has done is try to kiss me but Shino-kun has always been able to stop him and sensei has been beating back Kiba's more, animalistic urges," the girl said with a smile.

Hearing this Naruto calmed somewhat and made a mental note to thank Shino and beat the living crap out of Kiba if he ever got the chance. Seeing as he was getting some wary looks, Naruto asked for the check, paid for the meal and the couple left for the movie theater.

On the way to the theater the two started to chat about, well, everything. They talked about food, friends and family, favorite movies and even favorite books they've read, which kind of threw Hinata through a loop, but Naruto explained that when you live with Yoku and work with seals, reading and calligraphy were necessities that one can't ignore. Hinata was somewhat embarrassed to reveal that her favorite kind of books were romance novels. Naruto had laughed a bit at that but said that he had a love for books about ancient demons, gods and stuff like that. With a blush he also admitted that one his favorite myths was one about how a hated demon fell in love with a beautiful angel and the angel felt the same for the demon.

"A demon and an angel?" Hinata asked somewhat giggling. It was a little amusing to find out Naruto had a liking to stories like those. She knew the whole beauty and beast thing was romantic but she didn't expect Naruto to like a myth like that.

"Well yeah," Naruto said somewhat embarrassed, "I mean I know its weird, but isn't it just kind of amazing that two totally different creatures can love each other?" he asked.

"How did the story go?" Hinata asked in interest.

"Well, there once was a demon who was hated by all for the simple fact that he was a demon, hated because he had no control over something and no one could look past his demonic appearance," Naruto started, "The demon tried to get people to see him for something other than his appearance, to see past the surface and to truly see him for who he was, but the people feared or hated him, sometimes even hunting him," Naruto paused for a second, a nostalgic look in his eye. Shaking his head he continued, "One day, the demon was hunting in the woods when he heard a strange sound. Following the sound the demon found a woman of incredible beauty with wings as white as the purest snow, but the angel was crying for she was lost. Concerned the demon approached her and asker her why she was in the forest, for an angel is rarely seen outside of their holy lands," the Uzumaki said, stopping to sit on a bench. Hinata listened on in fascination of the story, but she wasn't the only one. Many a villager had stopped to listen to the tale, their intrigue piqued.

"So the demon went forward and asked why she was crying and the angel said she was lost and revealed that she had been flying over the forest, intent on finding out what life was like outside of her holy lands, something that surprised the demon greatly, for angels only ever left their lands at the command of their master and creator Kami. Yet she had left by her own will and crippled her wings when she was forced to crash land by violent winds. So the demon promised to get her back to her home and helped her. For five days and nights, the demon cared for her, brought her food and protected her from the vicious animals and led her back to the holy lands of all angels," Naruto said.

"What happened next?" Hinata asked, while a few villagers also nodded in agreement, eager to hear what happened next. The blonde was actually surprised to see the villagers interested in the story because the way they acted around him without his henge, you'd think they'd want nothing to do with demons at all.

The blonde was about to tell the rest of the tale but then he caught sight of someone's watch and his eyes widened in a bit of panic. "Sorry everyone but the story will have to wait, come on Hina-chan otherwise we'll miss the movie!" the blonde exclaimed. Before the girl could react she found herself scooped up in Naruto's arms bridal style and flying through the air at breakneck speed. She gasped a bit in fear and snuggled closer to Naruto for safety. Glancing down, the wild child smiled at the girl before suddenly stopping.

"You can open your eyes now Hinata," Naruto said with a chuckle. As the girl did, she found out that they were right in front of the theater. She also realized she was still in Naruto's arms and people were starting to stare. Quickly she leaped out of his arms, causing the blonde to laugh.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said in mock complaint. Naruto just shook his head and bought the tickets. Once again he offered his arm and Hinata took it with a smile and a less furious blush then when she had taken it the first time. The couple entered just in time to see the opening credits.

As the movie went on, the only interesting that happened was that Hinata rested her head on Naruto's shoulder while Naruto wrapped an arm around her. When the film ended the couple exited and started the trek back to the Hyuuga compound.

"That movie was amazing!" Naruto exclaimed while Hinata giggled and nodded her head in agreement. She had to admit, it was one of the best movies she had ever seen. The fights were jaw dropping, the tragedy tear jerking and the romance scenes heart warming. Granted the idea of 'rainbow chakra' was kind of ridiculous but when it was seen in action, it was pretty amazing.

'_Extremely beautiful but also very powerful'_ Naruto thought as he glanced at Hinata and smiled. _'Just like you Hinata, even if you don't believe it yourself'_ he mused.

Soon the two had stopped in front of the Hyuuga compound gates and were standing there awkwardly. "So I guess I'll see you later then?" Naruto said.

Hinata smiled at that, "Of course we will Naruto-kun," she hesitated and blushed a bit "I-I really enjoyed tonight, a-and I'd like to do i-it again sometime" Hinata stuttered.

"Really?" Naruto exclaimed but quickly reeled back and stuttered, "Y-yeah I enjoyed it too, I'll be sure to ask you out again soon," Naruto stated with his usual smile.

"I'd like that," Hinata said, "Maybe you could finish telling me that story?" Hinata offered.

Naruto smiled a small genuine smile at that, "I'd love to Hinata," with that he turned to leave, "I'll see ya soon Hina-chan," he called.

Hinata hesitated for a moment then with a burst of confidence dashed up to Naruto, spun him around, gave him a quick kiss on the lips and dashed back inside her home shouting, "See you on our next date Naru-kun!"

Naruto stood there dumbstruck for a second before he smiled once again. _'You are one surprising woman Hinata-tenshi'_ thought the teen. With that he started to walk off with a bounce in his step before he remembered what Hinata had asked him to do.

"_Maybe you could finish that story?"_ her voice asked, echoing inside the teen's mind. He grimaced slightly at that but quickly shook it off saying it was just a story. However as the blonde walked off, he promised himself that he would try to keep from telling Hinata that story's end.

**A/N: Finally! Gomen, gomen gomen! I've been so busy with school and these social problems and that other bullcrap that I've had hardly any time to post! Please don't hate me, and bear with me if this story is a little patchy or badly cobbled together because with whats been happening its been hard for me to focus on this. Anyway read and review! Ja ne!**


	10. Author Note

**A/N: Hello everyone! Before I add another chapter I need some help with prelim fights, heres what I got so far:**

**Naruto vs. Kiba (need that one)**

**Yoku vs. Shino (if I decide to remove Zaku) or Yoku vs. Chouji (Zaku will fight Shino in this case)**

**Doku vs. Kankuro**

**Shikamaru vs. Kin**

**Gaara vs Lee**

**Kin vs. Shikamaru**

**Temari vs Tenten**

**Neji vs. Hinata (need that one)**

**Sasuke vs. Yoroi**

**Dosu vs. Misumi**

**I need to know if I'm missing someone or if I should change up the matches, also I'm putting up a poll, should Yoku and Doku make it to the finals or not? Either they both go or neither go, and if they do go it'll be Yoku vs Doku.**


	11. Enter Gaara

"A Warrior, An Archer and A Fox

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

**A/M: Ok everyone I have everything figured out now! So lets get this chapter started!**

Naruto was once again wandering the streets of Konoha but with a definite spring in his step. Why might the village pariah be so happy you ask? Well the answer is obvious of course. Naruto was ecstatic about his relationship with Hinata!

It had been three weeks since their first date and the two had gone on four other dates as well as sparring together or just hanging out when they had the time. It was odd though that hardly any of the genins had gone outside the village for missions. Then again the blonde wasn't complaining, it gave him more time to train and spend time with Hinata.

Now that the blonde thought about it, he wasn't the only one on his team to find a relationship. Yoku and Haku had been spending a lot of time together as well. In fact, the two could almost always be found together, in fact, Doku had let it slip that he hadn't been prepared to see Haku taking a shower in his and Yoku's shared apartment. Though when he said it was a very pleasant surprise, Sakura had chased Doku all around Konoha with a frying pan. It was a sight to see but everyone had wondered where in Kami's name did Sakura get a frying pan? Sometimes he thought those two were in a comedic romantic relationship.

The blonde shrugged the thought off and turned a corner, heading towards his team meeting. Glancing back he smiled slightly at the figure following him. The figure was long and low to the ground with camouflage to make it look like the rock pathways of Konoha. There were two eye holes cut out in the front of it and the fox boy could hear the whispers of several kids coming from the box.

"You're getting better Konohamaru, but rocks aren't rectangular and they don't have eye holes," Naruto stated as he turned around with an amused and proud smile on his face. Suddenly the box exploded into smoke and when it cleared it revealed three coughing academy students.

"Too much gun powder," coughed the one in front of the trio. He was a spiky brown haired kid with a long blue scarf, yellow shirt with a red Konoha symbol, grey shorts and standard shinobi sandals. This boy's name was Sarutobi Konohamaru, leader of the Konohamaru Ninja Corps which consisted of himself and his friends Moegi, an orange haired girl with giant pigtails, black eyes and an almost permanent blush on her cheeks, and Udon, a brown haired boy with large round black rimmed glasses and a constant drip of snot hanging from his nose. All three of them wore goggles on their foreheads.

"Hey boss! Want to play ninja?" asked Konohamaru with a big grin on his face.

Naruto chuckled as he remembered meeting Konohamaru.

**Flashback**

Yoku, Doku and Naruto were standing in front of the Hokage who was trying to keep a straight face. Yoku and Naruto on the other hand, were either grinning up a storm or pinching the bridge of their nose in aggravation, while Doku waited for the hokage to speak. The three had just had their pictures taken for their shinobi license and Doku had taken a slightly… different picture then his brothers.

"Doku-kun, are you sure you want this as your photo?" Sarutobi asked the red-eyed Tsuuro. In his hand was a photo of Doku's face but he was baring his teeth in a feral grin. His eyes seemed to glitter dangerously with barely restrained bloodlust. If that wasn't enough, the boy had decided to paint his face blood red with the kanji for 'war cry' written jaggedly across his face in black. The picture just seemed to scream 'battle crazed warrior'

"Hell yeah I want that as my picture! When I get in the bingo books, they're going to see that and know that you don't mess with Doku Tsuuro!" stated Doku proudly. Naruto chuckled a bit while Yoku just palmed his face and groaned. Before things could escalate, a kid with an abnormally long scarf and weird helmet with a frowny-face sticker on it, burst through the doors.

"I have you now old man!" screamed the kid as he attempted to hurl a shuriken at the wizened hokage. However, the kid tripped on his own scarf and fell face first into the wooden floor, causing the shuriken to fly off wildly. The kid groaned in pain slowly standing up as he searched for someone to blame for his trip up. As he searched, his eye landed on one Doku Tsuuro, who was now trying to remove the shuriken embedded in his forehead. "Hey! You red eyed baka! You messed up my attack"" Konohamaru shouted.

Now, Doku isn't very patient or courteous and he lacks a good amount of self-control, meaning he was more prone to act off of his emotions and instinct without much thought. He also never took anything that he didn't deserve, meaning if you insulted or blamed him for something that the Tsuuro didn't do, he would retaliate verbally in a scathing and/or angry tone, rarely physically but he will leak killing intent at the person but, if you attacked the Tsuuro, he WILL attack back, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, because his instincts told him to fight till the attacker is no longer a threat or fight until you're close to death, then run.

Now knowing all this, Yoku backed up (he wasn't strong enough to hold back Doku for even a second back then) while Naruto desperately searched his pockets for a restraining seal. Hiruzen was just thankful that Konohamaru had been wielding a dulled training shuriken. They could cause injury but were rarely fatal when attacked by one. Though for the life of him, Sarutobi couldn't figure out why Yoku and Naruto seemed to be panicking. His question was answered when a wave of KI exploded from Doku.

Slowly, Doku reached up and ripped the shuriken from his forehead, a small trail of blood now leaking down his face as he settled a murderous glare on the figure of the 'honorable grandson'. Slowly his KI locked onto the boy and said boy was paralyzed. In the blink of an eye, Doku had the young Sarutobi lifted clear off the ground by his collar. "YOU LITTLE SNOT NOSED ASSHOLE! I'M GOING TO BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU THEN PEEL THE PATHETIC SKIN FROM YOUR WHORE SCORNED FLESH, MELT THE ORGANS AND MUSCLES OFF YOUR THRICE DAMNED SKELETON THEN GNAW ON YOUR CHARRED BONES FOR DAYS TO COME WHILE I USE YOUR SKULL AS A PISS BUCKET!" roared the enraged Tsuuro, causing the pipe to fall from the hokage's mouth at the words just spoken.

He, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Kami no Shinobi and Professor, was dumbstruck by the words coming from the genin's mouth. The hokage had heard some pretty good insults and death threats in his days but Doku's took the cake, making the aged fire shadow cringe at his grandson's plight. Konohamaru just watched in horror as Doku pulled back his fist in preparation of keeping his promise.

However it was interrupted when a strange man wearing the standard Konoha shinobi outfit minus the flak jacket, a bandanna with the Konoha symbol on it and perfectly round and rather large sunglasses. "Unhand the Hokage's grandson at once!" roared the man at Doku.

Doku stared at him then back at the kid who now had a smug grin on his face. Yoku sighed, and hoped beyond hope that Doku would just let the boy go. Naruto had practically emptied his pockets searching for a restraining seal tag, which had littered the floor with various seal tags ranging from chakra seals to exploding tags.

"So what are you gonna do now tough guy?" asked the kid while thinking _'Now that he knows who I am he'll back off and act like all the rest'_. Big Mistake.

That comment reignited Doku's fury and he punched the kid into the ground while screaming, "I don't care if he's your Grandma ya little bastard!" the enraged Tsuuro would have followed it up with a punt kick but Naruto had finally found the seal and slapped it on Doku, causing the boy to slam to the ground, his entire body completely immobile. Well, everything except his mouth and head, those still worked. "Damn it Naruto! Just give me five minutes so I can teach this worm some manners!" growled the boy as he attempted to pull himself forward by his chin at the boy.

"Doku, calm yourself," Yoku stated calmly as walked over to his brother's prone form. "I apologize for my brother's actions, Ebisu-san, Konohamaru-san and hokage-sama," said the grey-eyed boy with a deep bow.

Ebisu just huffed and adjusted his sunglasses before grabbing Konohamaru, "Come honorable grandson, we must get back to training. I'm your best shortcut to becoming hokage,' stated the man as he started to walk out the door with the young Sarutobi following.

"**If that guy is the shortcut to being the hokage then dress me up in a pink tutu and have me dance the Macarena," **Kyuubi snorted. At the image Naruto's mind conjured up, said blonde fox burst into howling laughter. The blonde was now on the ground just rolling around laughing, with everyone staring at him in confusion and slight fear.

"Whats so funny?" Konohamaru demanded.

"I'll believe this guy is the shortcut to hokage when Kyuubi himself appears in a pink tutu dancing the Macarena," Naruto chuckled. At that Doku erupted into laughter as well while Yoku snickered. Ebisu looked outraged and Hiruzen had a sweatdrop while Konohamaru just looked confused.

"Then what is the shortcut to being hokage?" Konohamaru asked.

"Konohamaru-san, there is no shortcut," Yoku stated, "Hokage is reached through hard work, determination and much more,"

"Then how can I become hokage!" shouted Konohamaru, now frustrated, "I want people to start noticing me!" he cried.

Naruto gave a kind smile as he crouched down to the young Sarutobi's level, "Like every dream, it is achieved by putting all of your blood, sweat, and tears into it. However, if your dream is to be recognized then start by acknowledging others," Naruto stated as he got up to leave with the Tsuuros right behind him. "Of course, you could always just keep on trying to murder the hokage and be forever known as the 'dumbass brat who tried to kill his grandfather'," called out the voice making Konohamaru lower his head a little guiltily.

**Flashback end**

Since that day, the hokage's grandson had thrown himself into his training, made fast friends with Moegi and Udon, and all three had become somewhat akin to apprentices to Yoku, Doku and Naruto. Mostly the three boys would just play ninja with the self-proclaimed Ninja Corps, but sometimes each boy would help the corps in a certain aspect.

Naruto would help them with stealth by sending them on small 'missions' which would range between Naruto giving them a target to prank to hiding in broad daylight while wearing neon orange jumpsuits. (they hated the jumpsuits but the argument was that if you can hide from ninja while wearing a color as bright as that, then you can hide from anyone) He'd also teach them some basic deception and trap making skills.

From Yoku they learned some minor chakra control exercises and perfecting the ninjutsu they already knew. He adamantly refused to teach them any new ninjutsu or anything beyond the leaf sticking exercise, but he would help them with throwing kunai and shuriken. Yoku would also help them with their academic skills (mathematics, history, science etc.) When they whined about it, Yoku told them that the more you know, the less likely you are to die because of a stupid mistake or lack of information.

Lastly Doku took over their taijutsu training. Doku would help perfect their stances and help them strengthen their bodies with various exercises. The exercises ranged from basic laps and push-ups, to having to climb trees with rocks tied to their bodies. There was an instant where Konohamaru asked Doku to make him strong through Doku's own method. Doku had laughed and had him punching boulders with his bare hands and afterwards started to pelt him with rocks to build up his pain tolerance. Needless to say, Konohamaru quickly abandoned that method of training.

"Sorry Konohamaru, but I have a team meeting today," Naruto said with an apologetic grin. As the trio groaned he felt a little guilty and decided to try and make it up to them. With a smile the blonde said "Tell you guys what, why don't you come with me to the meeting? Never hurts to have some real genin experience and I'm sure sensei won't mind," he was met with a cheer and all four left to the bridge Team 7 usually met at.

**The bridge**

Most of Team 7 was at the bridge, the missing members being Naruto and, of course, Kakashi. Sasuke was leaning against a tree, his usual expression on his face. Yoku was surprisingly letting his mind wander. A ghost of a smile was on his face as he thought about a certain medical ninja. Sakura was talking to Doku while inconspicuously trying to get the boy to stand on the bridge.

"Hey guys!" Naruto called as he walked over to his teammates and surrogate brothers with a large wave. Behind him came the ninja corps with happy smiles on their faces.

Noticing who was with the blonde, Yoku broke from his daydreaming and gave the blonde a questioning look. "Not that I'm not happy to see them but why is Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi here?" questioned the grey-eyed boy.

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Well they wanted to play ninja but we had a team meeting so I figured they could come and see what being a genin is like," he answered honestly. Sasuke snorted at that while Yoku nodded in agreement with the blonde. It never hurt to get information. Doku and sakura just shrugged and went back to their conversation.

"Doku, exactly what IS your project? Yoku said you've mentioned it to him but they've never seen it before," Sakura asked.

Doku chuckled as all eyes were now on him. "To be honest, the project WAS a taijutsu style that used a pair of brass knuckles I found, but I kept on breaking my own fingers against them when I punched something and the taijutsu style was a really messed up version of the academy style," Doku stated as he unconsciously rubbed his knuckles. The idea had been good, but brass knuckles the ones he found were made for breaking bone, NOT rocks. They just ended up cracking the bones in his fingers and the rounded metal became flat and dulled.

"So that's how you broke your fingers," Yoku said mostly to himself. Yoku had taken up medical skills when Doku started his brutal training so the boy had healed his brother's fingers every time he came back from his "project" training.

The group waited for another hour before Konohamaru started to get impatient, "When the heck is your sensei going to get here!" yelled the boy.

"I have no idea but I know for a fact I could be doing something much more fun," Doku drawled with a sideways stare at Sakura. He grinned a little lecherously and his mind immediately went off into what Naruto likes to call "Pervtasia, a land where all perverts go to fantasize," Konohamaru immediately noticed this and grinned at his 'sensei'.

"Ne, Doku-nee-san, are you and her.." the kid trailed off while holding his pinky in the air with a grin. Sakura noticed and developed a tick mark while Doku grinned even more and said something that he really shouldn't say.

"You bet! Sakura just can't keep her hands off of me!" not one moment after he said that then Doku ended up a crumpled heap from Sakura's fist driving into his skull. "Stop being a pervert!" she screamed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" shouted Konohamaru, "Whats the big idea hitting your boyfriend like that!" next thing the boy knew, he had a giant bump on his head courtesy of a punch from Sakura once more. Konohamaru got up with a groan and said words that no man ever dared to say to an enraged woman. "Why did you hit me, you ugly pink haired banshee!" It was like the world suddenly stopped moving.

Now there are much, MUCH worse things to say to a woman but one word you never call a girl is ugly. Sakura had her head bowed, hair covering her eyes ominously as she cracked her knuckles. Doku did the one thing that he could think of and yelled, "Run!" before dashing off, Konohamaru in front of him and Sakura tearing after them like a hound of hell.

Yoku palmed his face and raced after his brother, Naruto right behind him with the rest of the corps. Sasuke just shrugged and walked after them, uncaring look in his eye the entire way.

**Some place about half a mile west of Team 7's meeting spot**

Doku and Konohamaru had still been running when they smashed into two people. Konohamaru merely bounced off the person he crashed into while Doku landed in a compromising position with the other one, which Doku knew was female because his pervert senses were telling him to A) make a witty and charming one liner B) Cap a feel by 'accident' and apologize profusely or C) run away and hide.

"I've heard that some angels fly low but I never believed it till today," Doku stated with a grin as he got a good look at the female he was on top of. She was a spiky blonde haired girl with four pigtails, dark green eyes and a light skin complexion void of any blemish that had a slight blush to it because of Doku's words. Standing up and pulling her to her feet, Doku saw she wore a light purple outfit that started from below her shoulders and ended a little further then mid thigh, a scarlet sash tied loosely around her waist. She was also wearing a fishnet shirt underneath the garment along with a fishnet piece on her left thigh and one on her right shin. Finishing off her look was a pair of black shinobi sandals and a Suna headband around her neck. Slung across her back was a giant metal object that Doku couldn't quite place, but he knew that if he had chosen option B, he'd be at the hospital while doctors tried to salvage his ability to reproduce. Before she could reply, a shout interrupted them.

"Let me go!" shouted Konohamaru, quickly Doku spun around to see the boy being held by the front of his collar by a man in what appeared to be a baggy full body cat suit, if the ears on the hood were anything to go by. He also had something wrapped in bandages on his back with what appeared to be hair coming from the top of it. He noted that he was wearing black fingerless gloves and black shinobi sandals as well. _'Jeez, as if wearing all black doesn't scream emo, he wears a cat suit too? Wonder what else is wrong with him' _the Tsuuro thought.

"Oi! Put him down right now!" Doku ordered causing the black clad person to turn around and Doku burst into laughter seeing the boy's face. The boy had black eyes, a Suna headband on his forehead. However the reason Doku was laughing was because- "Oh my god! It's a cross dressing emo in a cat suit with purple make-up!" Doku laughed, barely able to stand.

The cat suit guy growled and dropped Konohamaru, "It's war paint you bastard!" he shouted in annoyance. That of course, is when the rest of Team 7 appeared along with the other two academy students. Sasuke had hidden himself in a tree for the element of surprise should a fight occur while Naruto had changed into his fox form about the size of a small dog.

"Ha! I've seen war paint and that my friend is make up!" Doku laughed as he got back up, still chuckling. The black clad boy growled and grabbed the bandaged object from his back. Sensing danger, Doku dropped into a stance and prepared for a fight.

"Kankuro are seriously going to fight here?" the girl asked, "You know what will happen if HE finds out," she finished with a warning tone.

"This punk needs to be taught a lesson Temari! Besides, he'll never find out," the now revealed Kankuro replied with a confident smirk as he eyed the red-eyed boy. Before he could attack a voice stopped them.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Sasuke called out from his tree, casually tossing a rock up and down in his hand. Kankuro snarled and said "And why not?" Sasuke stopped throwing the rock and said in a cool voice, "Because right now you have three people ready to kick your ass," with that the boy crushed the rock and leveled a piercing glare at the black clad boy.

Kankuro was about to reply when he heard a growling noise. Looking down he spotted a rather large fox with rather sharp teeth growling at him, its red eyes burning into the cat man. At first he wasn't concerned then he felt a kunai at his throat and saw Yoku with kunai drawn, ready to slit his throat. "I'm assuming Suna is here for the chuunin exams and I doubt you want to start a war by attacking another genin team outside of the exams as well as the hokage's grandson," Yoku spoke calmly. "Now, you can continue down this path and we start a war here and now, or you and your teammates can leave,"

Suddenly there was a swirl of sand, and when it disappeared a pale redheaded boy with green eyes rimmed with raccoon like rings around them and the kanji for love over his left eye. "Kankuro, you're an embarrassment," the boy said in a deep raspy voice, reminiscent to that of sand being rubbed against stone. He was pale, and wore a a black t shirt wth an open collar, ¾ long black pants, and black sandals. The most notable thing he wore was the giant gourd that was tied to a leather band going from his left shoulder to right hip while a white sash did the exact opposite, his head band was wrapped around his leather strap. He stood straight with his arms crossed and emitted an aura that put everyone on edge.

"Gaara, I-" Kankuro tried to say before the shorter redhead glared at him and said, "Shut up, or I'll kill you," in the same monotone as before. Naruto shuddered slightly, it wasn't a threat, it was a statement.

Sasuke leapt down in front of the redhead and glared at him. Gaara simply stared back, "I'm sorry for my brothers actions, we will be leaving now," Gaara then turned around and started to walk, "Temari, Kankuro, we're leaving," he stated.

"Hold up, what's your name?" Sasuke demanded (attentive isn't he?) Gaara stopped and turned to face the Uchiha. "My name is Gaara, who are you?" asked the red head, now staring at the fox. _'Mother wants this one's blood badly. Why? Is he a threat?'_ thought the boy.

Sasuke smirked and said "My name is Sasuke Uchiha," Gaara shifted his look to stare at him for a second then said, "I couldn't care less what your name was, I'm talking to the one disguised as a fox," Gaara stated before glaring back at the fox who had a bit of a surprised look.

Shrugging his fox shoulders, Naruto started to change back to his human form. When he was done the blonde noticed that the fox ears and tail were still there. Frowning for a second, he concentrated and the tail and ears disappeared, although they seemed to do so a little reluctantly. Satisfied the blonde grinned at the red head and replied, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki,"

"Naruto Uzumaki…" Gaara whispered to himself. Nodding the red head and his team left, leaving behind a confused Naruto and Doku, an angry Uchiha, a scared group of kids plus Sakura, and a deep thinking Yoku.

"**Naruto,"** Kyuubi spoke, startling the blonde slightly.

'_Yeah tou-san?' _asked the blonde.

"**Be very careful of that boy, he reeks of something I haven't smelled in a good one hundred years,"** the fox stated.

'_Eh? What do you mean?'_

"**Use that nose of yours boy, did the smell of blood soaked sand miss your nostrils?"** Kyuubi asked. Naruto frowned and slowly nodded, both mentally and physically. **"If I'm correct I have smelled that scent only one other time and that was when I was resting in Makai"**

Naruto's eyes immediately widened in alarm, before he schooled his features, _'then he's a demon?'_ asked the blonde.

"**No, at least not entirely, but I need time to think on this. I just hope I remember before it's too late," **stated the Kyuubi before retreating. Before the fox left completely he said one more thing. **"Also, my chakra is turning you into a hanyou, so be prepared for fox ears and a tail,"** with that the Kyuubi laughed and cut the mental connection.

There was silence then Naruto did the only intelligent thing he could: scream loudly and start ranting. "NANI! What do you mean a hanyou? Get back here and explain yourself you baka fox!" Naruto yelled, causing everyone besides Yoku and Doku to question the blonde's sanity.

This is the sight that, not only Kakashi, but Zabuza and Haku as well, appeared upon. They watched with sweatdrops as Naruto kept yelling about skinning a fox and something about how he's supposed to hide ears and tails from everyone. This would have gone on for quite sometime if Doku hadn't decided to shut his surrogate brother up by jamming a spoon of peanut butter into the blonde's mouth. Naruto blinked before starting to eat the peanut butter much like a dog does.

Sakura then finally noticed Kakashi and yelled, "YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi eye smiled at his students, "Sorry, I got side tracked trying to find these two," Kakashi stated as he gestured towards Zabuza and Haku. The team blinked and for once, nobody called him a liar because that actually seemed like a legit excuse.

"Anyway, the chuunin exams are coming up and I've volunteered all of you for it" Kakashi stated. Everyone seemed pleasantly surprised, Doku being the most pleased at the chance for combat, but Yoku looked worried.

"Sensei, are you sure about that? We haven't even been genin for a year," the brown haired archer stated.

"Aw come on Yoku!" Doku complained, "There are five of us! Plus with our skills and, we'll be unstoppable! Besides, it wouldn't be the first time we killed," Doku stated with a his trademark reckless grin.

"Allow me to point out some flaws for you Doku," Yoku said in a serious voice, "One, Naruto, myself and you have killed before. Two, we've only killed mercenaries, not other shinobi and an average genins twice, if not three times as deadly as a mercenary," Doku was about to protest before Yoku silenced him with his next words, "We were only able to kill an army of mercs because we had not one, but two jounin with us, despite the fact they were weakened down to a low chuunin state, as well as five genin and an army of frenzied villagers. Couple this with a fox the size of a horse, a kid who is drenching himself in blood and screaming like a barbarian while saying 'I'll eat your heart' riding said fox, plus two legendary killers and death falling from above, you don't exactly have an army with a high morale," Yoku finished.

Doku just snorted at his brother. "We can take them no problem! We outnumber them 5 to 3!" proclaimed the red-eyed boy. Before Yoku could speak, Doku spoke up again "I can't believe you don't think we can do this, if I didn't know better I'd say you're a coward!"

Yoku bristled at that "I am no coward!" replied the twin hotly. Soon, the two twins were insulting each other like there was no tomorrow.

"Neanderthal!" Yoku shouted.

"Weakling!" Doku retorted

"Muscle bound oaf!"

"Spineless shinobi!"

Before the two could continue, Naruto slapped two seals on each of them, one across the mouth with the kanji for silence, and another one on the back with the kanji for restrain. "Now I'll take the tags off AFTER Kakashi-sensei tells us why he nominated us," Naruto told the two as he made two shadow clones to hold the twins up. The blonde gestured for the copy cat nin to speak.

Kakashi eye smiled and began his explanation. "First, while I know you are fresh out of the academy, I believe that all five of you have progressed far enough to take on the chuunin exams. I also believe this will be a good learning experience for all of, a chance to see how ninjas from other villages fight as well as a test of your abilities," Kakashi started, "However, only teams of three can enter the exams,"

"WHAT?" Sakura screeched. "Does this mean that two of us are going to be left behind?" asked the girl worriedly, effectively putting everyone on edge. A now free Yoku and Naruto looked slightly worried, Sakura was scared while a free Doku and Sasuke looked pissed.

"Relax Sakura," Kakashi placated the girl, "I talked with the hokage and he said it would be ok if I got Haku here to be the third member for a temporary team with Zabuza as the sensei," All the genin gave a sigh of relief when Doku looked troubled.

"So, who's going to be on the team with Haku and Zabuza-sama?" asked the barbarian like Tsuuro.

Zabuza spoke up then. "Actually kid, we were discussing that on the way here and decided that this team would be more of a guerilla warfare kind of deal,"

"Gorilla warfare? Whats that, some kind of animal style team dynamic?" asked Doku. Zabuza sighed at that while everyone else had a small sweatdrop except for Kakashi who just eye smiled.

"Not quite, Doku," started Hatake, " Its pronounced guerilla, not gorilla and it means hit and run tactics, meaning you would be made to attack hard and fast then run away," finished the grey haired nin. Doku just nodded slowly in understanding.

"So who will be under which sensei?" Sakura asked.

Zabuza spoke up then, "I'm taking Yoku, Haku and Doku under my wing until the exams are over," he said with a sadistic smirk underneath his bandages. (A/N: Zabuza and Haku are wearing the same things as before except Zabuza has a Konoha headband and a black jounin flak jacket on, also Haku still has the mask except it now has the leaf symbol on it)

"Um no offense, but why did you choose Doku to be on your team?" Naruto asked.

"Because, while Yoku and Haku have the quick and efficient attack portion down, you still need some muscle to go with it just in case and it helps that Doku is fast, maybe not as fast as those spandex wearing guys but he is fast enough. Besides, I'm planning on teaching these three some new tricks and no offense Kakashi, but the stuff you've taught Doku just isn't enough," Zabuza stated with a shrug.

"None taken, anyway starting tomorrow, for the next two weeks my team will meet at training ground 7 for training every day at 9," Kakashi stated. "Same time for my team, but we'll be meeting at training ground 40 every day, and be prepared to bleed," Zabuza said with a chuckle before both jounin left in a poof of smoke.

Sasuke grunted before walking away to do his own thing. Haku and Yoku looked at each before nodding and leaping off towards the hokage monument. Doku rushed off on foot, screaming something about training till his body dropped, Sakura close behind berating him for training so hard even before he started. Seeing as he was the only one left Naruto shrugged and headed towards the Hyuuga compound.

**A/N: New chapter up! This is just kind of a filler since I want to knock the first and second exams out in one chapter. As for those who were wondering about Doku's project and 'getting them ready' in previous chapters, I was talking about the brass knuckles but then thought it was just a bad idea. Anyway be sure to leave reviews.**


	12. First exam

"A Warrior, An Archer and A Fox

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews and be sure to keep them coming. As for those wondering what Zabuza is teaching them, well I did make the team hit and run style plus it IS Zabuza so just think along those lines. Also, Naruto, Sakura and yes, Sasuke have learned some new things. Lets start this thing up! And to do that I have with me Maito Gai!**

**Gai- YOSH! Time to start another YOUTHFUL chapter of A warrior, An archer, and a Fox! Also Danasca does not own or take credit for anything Naruto like except for his two OCs **

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke stood in front of the academy, ready to start the chuunin exams. The three had gone through some rather hellish training in preparing for this exam and now it was time to see the fruits of their labors. On an unspoken agreement all three stepped into the academy building and headed for room 301.

On the second floor, the team was stopped by a large group of genin trying to get into a room marked 301. As they got closer they saw a boy with prefect bowl cut black hair get knocked back by two other shinobi guarding the door to the room. The blonde twitched slightly at seeing the boy's clothing: a green spandex jumpsuit with bandaged hands and forearms combined with standard sandals and his headband around his waist like a belt._ 'good Kami why? Isn't it bad enough that one of them exists?'_ thought the blonde as he remembered another green clad individual. His teammates had similar thoughts.

"Let us in already!" shouted a brown-eyed girl dressed in Chinese clothing and hair done into buns. She was helping the green clad boy to his feet while a Hyuuga stood to the side and watched impassively with the usual stoic Hyuuga expression on his face.

"No way, if you guys can't even get past us then there is no way you're going to survive these exams," stated one with the other nodding in agreement. Naruto just shrugged and glanced at Sasuke and Sakura, silently asking if they should reveal the trick or move on. However neither boy had to say anything because at that moment someone else decided to speak up.

"You have two options! Drop the genjutsu or get sliced into appetizers," announced a familiar genin. Turning, everyone looked to see Doku Tsuuro though with something notably different. Across his back was a black sword that somewhat resembled a large knife. There was no guard and the handle was covered in bandages and the thing was about two inches shorter than the wielder. **(A/n: Its Ichigo's blade. I don't own Bleach) **

"You do realize that they set this up to weed out the weaker ones right?" asked the red-eyed boy's twin as he stepped forward. Like Doku, Yoku had a new weapon as well, or weapons to be precise. Strapped to his waist were two silver scimitars with simple grey guards and black leather wrapped hilts. The only really distinguishing feature was the kanji for cut on the left scimitar's handle in white and the kanji for silence also etched in white on the other scimitar's handle.

"I don't think Doku cares, Yoku-kun," Haku answered the grey-eyed boy since Doku was now in the middle of a glaring contest with the two unknown guards who had released the jutsu revealing the room to be number 201.

"You snot nosed punk, somebody has to teach you some MANNERS!" said the guard on the left as he went for a straight right jab to an eagerly awaiting Doku's face.

"Bring it maggot!" Doku said while also raising his left fist into an uppercut towards the man's jaw. However, before either attack could collide there was a flash of green and the bowl cut boy appeared in between them, his hands blocking both punches. Doku blinked in surprise at the speed and strength the boy showed. Even though he was using only half strength, Doku was still amazed due to the simple fact that no other genin besides maybe Chouji and his weight could stop his punch that easily.

"I do not think we should be fighting, you are both Konoha shinobi and to attack each other is unyouthful," stated the black haired teen in a stern voice. Glaring at each other one more time, the two fighters lowered their fists. Grunting, the guard left with his friend right behind him.

"Lee you baka! I thought we agreed not to show our true strength!" shouted the bun haired girl as she slapped her teammate over the head.

"But Tenten-chan-," started the boy now known as Lee only to be cut off by the Hyuuga. "Whats done is done, lets get moving," said the boy coldly as he glared at his teammates before walking off, making sure to stop and glare at the last Uchiha before he left

"Well, they were friendly," muttered Sakura as she stepped towards the team taught by Zabuza, her other teammates close behind. "Hey guys! Long time no see, so whats up?" asked the pinkette.

"Sakura-chan!" Doku yelled with delight. "My dear it has been far too long since we have seen each other! Kami only knows the suffering we must have gone through with being apart for so long!" Doku sobbed as he fell to one knee and held Sakura's hand, a twinkle in his eyes as he spoke to the girl. "Promise me that your beauty shall never leave me again Sakura-chan and I promise to make you the happiest of women!"

Naruto laughed while everyone else just sweatdropped at the red-eyed boy. "Even though it's nice to see you, we all really need to go. The exams will start soon and I'd rather not be late lest we get disqualified," Yoku stated as he and Haku walked towards the stairs towards the third floor with Sasuke and Naruto close behind. Sakura was also about to follow when she found herself being lifted bridal style by a pair of strong arms.

Yelping in surprise Sakura turned her head to see Doku holding her with the biggest smile on his slightly tanned face. Blushing furiously the pinkette did the first thing that came to mind, "What the hell are you doing?" she nearly shouted. In her head though, she was wondering why she hadn't leapt out of Doku's arms first, or hit him for picking her up like this. **"Man Doku-kun has some seriously ripped muscles!"** shouted Inner Sakura while the real one turned an even deeper shade of red.

Doku chuckled at the girl, "I said I missed you Sakura-chan and I don't want to be separated from you just yet, besides, its not every day I get to carry a girl as pretty as you," stated the red-eyed boy._ 'What the heck is wrong with me? Second rule of the pervert, never settle down with a girl!'_ Doku shouted in his head as he thought back to the book he had read years ago. It was titled "How to get the ladies and still be a pervert" by the toad sannin Jiraiya.

"R-Really?" Sakura asked. "You don't think I have a large forehead or that I'm too… flat?" questioned the girl hesitantly. If it was one thing Sakura was still insecure about, it was her body. It made sense, since she had been teased for so long about it, then she had made fun of Naruto and the twins, making the others stop picking on her. However before the boy could respond there was a loud scream coming from up ahead. Quickly, Doku put Sakura down and unsheathed his sword. Before the girl could protest, Sakura was picked up on put on Doku's back, her arms instinctively wrapped round his neck while her legs were wrapped around his waist. With the pinkette securely on his back, Doku sped off towards the staircases.

The scene the pair stumbled upon was very… disturbing. The two froze upon seeing Lee was in a manly embrace with someone who was dressed almost exactly the same as him except the second green clad person was older, had no bandages on his hands and was wearing an unzipped flak jacket. Behind the hugging individuals was a waterfall with a rainbow and there was some kind of airy, disturbingly happy music playing (**A/N: There should at least be a sign that says no homo) **A beaten up looking Sasuke was desperately making the ram seal in an attempt to remove the scenery but to no avail, much to the Uchiha's horror. Haku had actually frozen in a cringing position while Yoku just watched with an impassive face, though his left eye would twitch every two seconds.

Naruto was watching with an expression akin to that of a deer caught in a truck's headlights. **"Run Naruto, run! Dear Kami boy at least look away! Damn you god's of guy love for making this unholy genjutsu!"** screamed the Kyuubi. "I… can't look… away..." Naruto whispered in response.

Sakura was about to hurl at the sight when Doku finally sprung into action. Dropping Sakura gently on her feet the red-eyed boy screamed bloody murder, grabbed his sword from his back and started swinging wildly at the two taijutsu specialists. "Die! Die! DIE!" seeing the danger, the two quickly separated, thus dispelling the genjutsu. As soon as the jutsu was gone, Doku stopped swinging and blinked.

Confused, the boy sheathed his sword and looked at everyone who was either looking at him in gratitude (Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, Haku and Yoku) or fear (Gai and Lee)

"Well now that that's done lets get moving shall we? Not much time until the exams start," Yoku stated briskly as he took Haku's hand and led her away, Naruto's team soon following. Shrugging, Doku picked Sakura up bridal style again and left after his brother.

As the two teams finally reached the double door to room 301, they were surprised to see Kakashi and Zabuza waiting for them, both reading Icha Icha. "About time you gakis got here, what took you?" Zabuza asked as he snapped his book closed and tucked it away.

"A guy named Lee challenged Sasuke then proceeded to kick his ass," Naruto started, "He was going to use this one powerful move but was stopped by Gai-sensei," here the blonde shuddered as he finished his explanation, "then the two of them hugged and, well, a really REALLY scary genjutsu came up. That's when Doku started to swing his sword at them screaming for them to die. They separated and here we are," explained the blonde as he sucked in a mouthful of air. The two senseis just blinked before nodding.

"Wait, how did you know the other one's name?" asked Yoku.

This time Sakura answered, "Kakashi had him come help me with my taijutsu," she shuddered and buried herself closer to Doku. "He kept on yelling about youth and hard work as well as making me work harder than I've ever had to," she finished. Everyone just shrugged at that until Zabuza asked another question.

"Doku, why are you carrying Sakura?" asked the sadistic man, causing both teens to blush. Thinking quickly Doku decided to give a believable answer. "Sakura made a bet with me that I couldn't sash a boulder with my bare hands. The stakes were if I couldn't, I go through the first exam wearing a dress and if I could, I carry her all the way to the first exam," stated the boy with a grin. Everyone quirked an eyebrow and looked to Sakura for confirmation. The girl just absent mindedly nodded wondering why Doku said it was a bet. The questioning party just shrugged, thinking it made sense, all except for Naruto, who had smelled the lie almost immediately.

'_Ok why is Doku lying?'_ Naruto mentally asked himself.

"**I've said it before and I'll say it again kit, humans make courting much more complicated than it needs to be,"** Kyuubi stated.

'_Courtship? You don't really mean-'_ thought the blonde before he was cut off by a large shriek. Blinking, the blonde saw he was in room 301 with his teammates and Ino had glomped Sasuke with a happy shriek. Looking around he saw that the other rookies of Konoha were coming toward their position and that a vast majority of the other genin was sending killing intent at them. Frowning Naruto produced a tag with the kanji for kill in red on it and quickly activated it, making sure it was held horizontally and pointed at the aggressive shinobi discreetly. Not a second after activation, the other genin were hit with a powerful spike of youki enforced killing intent. Suffice to say, the other genin backed off.

'_hehe I love these things' _Naruto grinned. _'Perfect for surprising enemies, inducing paranoia and of course scaring your grandma'_ thought the blonde.

"**As do I kit," **chuckled the fox. The tags that Naruto had used were filled with chakra enhanced killing intent that, once released, caused anyone in front of the seal up to about 10 feet, to experience killing intent double that of an elite jounin's, but the effect lasted only for a couple of minutes. It was much like a flashbang just on an emotional and mental scale.

The blonde had found out that if you concentrated hard enough on a certain feeling such as fear, happiness or killing intent, you could use chakra to seal it into a tag. To make them however, required the desired emotion to be extremely powerful so that it could be sealed and it also required absolute concentration with the task on hand making it very difficult due to the simple fact that its hard to focus while channeling emotion. Also the emotions couldn't be slowly fed from the tag, but instantly fed so slapping it on a person was useless.

"You know, you really shouldn't aggravate them any more than they are already," stated a white haired kid with round glasses in a dark purple outfit and a Konoha headband. "Using that tag and your constant chattering is going to get you killed," finished the obvious genin.

Naruto grinned sheepishly at that, "Gomen, just wanted to make sure they backed off a bit. The name's Naruto," apologized the blonde as he extended his hand in greeting towards the boy.

Kabuto smiled and shook the container's hand. "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Kabuto Yakushi, a veteran of these exams," stated the boy. "It's a bit embarrassing but this will be my seventh time doing this exam, but on the plus side it has given me tons of information. One might say I'm the fly on the wall in every home due to the fact that I probably have information on everyone here," Kbuto declared with a small amount of humbled pride.

"Really? Then maybe you can tell me about some people," Sasuke stated in a commanding tone. His defeat at the hands of Lee had greatly angered the 'last' Uchiha and he wanted whatever edge he could get on his opponents. _'Maybe I can learn something about the dobe and his techniques'_ thought the raven-haired boy as he glanced around, his eyes stopping on the Tsuuros and that Gaara kid._ 'Might as well get info on them too'_ Sasuke concluded.

"Perhaps I do, just ask and I'll see what I have on my ninja info cards," Kabuto explained as he brought out what looked like trading cards. "These hold all my information and react only to my chakra, so he do you want to know about?" he asked while kneeling on the ground.

"Give me info on Doku and Yoku Tsuuro, Naruto Uzumaki, Rock Lee and a boy named Gaara," Sasuke demanded.

Kabuto nodded as he placed five cards on the ground and charged chakra to his finger before applying it to the first card. The card spun for a bit before giving a poof of smoke. Picking it up, people could see stats, a picture and even something that looked like a measurement of a ninja's skills. "Alright, first we have Doku Tsuuro of a temporary which consists of his brother Yoku, Haku Mamochi and jounin sensei Zabuza Mamochi," began the bespectacled boy with a bit of a surprised look. "Says here he has completed twenty five D-ranks and one C turned A-rank. His physical power is quite formidable as is his speed and taijutsu, Ninjutsu is pretty basic with only two earth jutsu, one for offense the other defense. No genjutsu skill seems to be present, as does no real skill with thrown weapons. On the other hand he does seem to have some kenjutsu training. All in all, a close ranged fighter," finished the boy.

"Oi! My skill with genjutsu and throwing weapons are just fine thank you!" said in an irate Doku.

"Doku, you didn't even know about the genjutsu till Haku told you about it," Yoku deadpanned as he referred to the earlier incident with the guards.

"I'm going to skip some information for the sake of time, but it says here that Yoku Tsuuro has some skill in kenjutsu but his real strength lies within his thrown weapons and astounding accuracy. Physical strength is somewhat below average, but he does have some impressive taijutsu skills coupled with an offensive wind jutsu. Lastly, he has a very strategic mind as well as a thorough understanding of the human body. To say the least, Yoku Tsuuro is a master of long range combat,"

"True enough," shrugged the archer as he thumbed the hilt f his right scimitar with his right hand._ 'He is very well informed, though some of this information he shouldn't know about, best keep an eye on him'_

"Rock Lee is an interesting case," Kabuto started " genjutsu and ninjutsu are non existent but his Taijutsu is through the roof!" he stated in surprise. "He is on team 9 with average number of missions completed, teammates are Neji Hyuuga and an orphan girl named Tenten. Jounin sense is Maito Gai," finished the boy before pulling up Gaara's card. "Whoa, skills are relatively unknown except for a control over sand and the fact that he has come back from every mission unharmed, which is amazing considering hes been on an A-rank, two B-ranks, several C-ranks and of course the required D-rank,"

Kabuto finally picked up the final card. Naruto held his breath in anticipation, ready to destroy the card should it reveal info he wasn't willing to let go public just yet. "Finally there is Naruto Uzumaki," Kabuto said with a somewhat relieved sigh, "he has completed two A-ranks and the standard D-ranks. Ninjutsu consit of Kage Bunshin as well as an interesting ability to shape chakra as seen in forming chakra claws, its unknown what other skills he has with it. Taijutsu is a little above average and genjutsu is practicly nonexistent," Kabuto's eyebrows then shot up in surprise at the next part he read. "Also, he appears to be an accomplished fuinjutsu user, not a master but still, damn!" Kabuto could honestly say he was surprised at that. Sealing techniques was something that not even most jounin understood yet here was a genin at an advanced level._ 'This may prove to be a problem' thought the boy._

Naruto just gave a sigh of relief, but he couldn't help but wonder at all the information the guy had. _'Well he did say he's the proverbial fly on the wall in all home's, wouldn't surprise me if he knew about the fox but is still keeping quiet about it'_ while the blonde was thinking this, Kabuto had made some remark about the new ninja from sound not being a big threat. This in turn had pissed them off and the mummified guy wearing a fur coat took a swing at Kabuto with his metal gauntlet clad fist.

Kabuto had dodged but then a there was a sound that made anyone with heightened hearing wince a bit while Kabuto's glasses broke and said boy fell to his kness nearly puking up his guts. Before it could escalate though a giant poof of smoke appeared at the font of the classroom, clearing to reveal a heavily scarred man with hard black eyes, matching trench coat and black headband on his head bandanna style, in fact the guy was like a giant black bear with a scarred face. He was at the head of a congregation of chuunin all armed with clipboards. "Everybody shut up and take a seat or I'll fail you right now!" barked the man. Needless to say, everybody quickly found a seat. Naruto ended up sitting in between two other genin of unimportance besides they were female and seemed extremely spoiled and had somewhat shrill voices. Sakura was in front of Ino and Haku had ended up behind Yoku while Doku was three seats to her right. (each desk seats up to five)

"My name is Ibiki Morino and your first test will be a written exam," declared the man as the tests were handed out.

"What? What in the name of hell does a written exam have to do with being a ninja?" Doku shouted. The boy however quickly regretted speaking out.

"You will be silent or you and the rest of your team will fail!" barked the intimidating man. Doku quickly shut his mouth but glared holes into the man anyway. "Now this test has some rules," started the man, "there are ten questions you must answer but you only have the first nine, after forty five minutes you must stop writing and the final question will be given," declared the man. "You start out with ten points, every wrong or unanswered question you have a point is lost, if you are caught cheating, two points will be deducted," he smirked a bit, "and if you're caught cheating five times… you and your team fail!" he declared.

This caused a great amount of unease among the gathered genin, but there was a couple that were confused.

'_I get the idea of losing a point for unanswered questions and wrong answers, but to lose two for cheating? That doesn't make sense! Iruka would always automatically fail any cheaters'_ thought our favorite blonde. He wasn't the only one thinking this as Yoku, Haku and several others contemplated the same thing. Others were just freaking out.

'_Crap, crap freaking crappity crap! Why the hell does it have to be a written test! When am I ever going to use a pencil and paper to kill my enemies? DAMN IT!'_ Doku ranted.

"The test begins now!" declared Ibiki. Immediately the sound of pencils writing rent the air. Sighing, Doku decided he might as well try and figure out what he could… only to pale considerably at the sight of the first question. Slowly he repeated the question in his head, _'If an enemy ninja is traveling at a speed of 30 meters per second and you have a throwing speed of 10 meters per second, how long would it take to hit the enemy when there is a difference of 10 meters between you?'_ Doku just sat there, mind blank before he said two words at the top of his lungs, "POR QUE!"

"Shut up or I'll toss you out myself!" Ibiki barked at the distressed genin. Yoku just sighed and went back to answering his questions. He knew the majority of them but he couldn't shake a certain feeling he was having.

'_No way should genin be able to answer these questions, granted, those like Sakura, myself and Shikamaru can answer them but not your normal genin,'_ thought the grey eyed boy. Then he started to notice something, a flash of light against a mirror hit the corner of his left eye. Turning to look, he saw an ice mirror reflecting the answers of his own for a second Yoku turned around, acting as if he was popping his back to stare at Haku with a quizzical look. She just smiled and mouthed the words 'needed some help'. Yoku blinked then grinned, as he finally understood the test. _'So that's why he gave us five strikes! This is testing our information gathering skills. I hope Doku has figured that out. I'll see if I can get Haku to send him the answers,'_ thought the archer. Using the mirror, Yoku wrote the words 'help Doku' on his paper and sent the message to Haku. The mirror tilted once, making the sun flash off it, signifying Haku had received the message.

Naruto just stared at the questions on his sheet. He'd figured out that this was testing their info gathering skills without getting caught. Naruto may have been smart but he just didn't have the same head for academics that Yoku or Sakura had. He knew that if he had actually shown his skill in the academy he would have been placed about two spots below Yoku. While sealing was difficult, it didn't require much in regards to mathematics and therefore he couldn't answer a good portion of these questions. Another problem was that he didn't have any jutsu specifically designed for recon like this.

'_Come on Naruto! Think! Theres got to be something I could do!'_ thought the blonde slowly a plan started to form in his head. Quickly, Naruto created a shadow clone appear under the desk, though without the annoying poof. Dropping his pencil, Naruto bent under the desk to retrieve it and told the clone, "I need you to use the Kitsune Shapeshift Jutsu to turn into a bug then see if you can get me some answers," The clone nodded, did some handseals and became a small fly. The fly then took off with as much speed its little wings could muster.

'_I really hope this works,' _thought the blonde. Five minutes later Naruto stood ramrod still and blinked once, twice, three times. The blonde had just received the memories of flying around looking for a good candidate to get answers from before t landed on some random genin's paper. He then remembered the answers he saw before being smashed by a person's hand. He also remembered that the other genin were cheating. Ino had used her family jutsu to take over Sakura's mind then take the answers. Shikamaru had used his Kag mane ability with Chouji so both of them got the answers through that. Sasuke and the Hyuugas had used their eyes, Kiba used Akamaru and Shino used his bugs. Tenten and Haku used mirrors to get the answers and relay them to their teammates while Gaara used a strange sand eye technique. _'So shadow clones send back their memories after being dispelled… very useful'_ thought the blonde, though he wondered why he hadn't noticed this before. _'Then again, I haven't exactly used it much except for pranking and zombie tactics'_ he shrugged and just wrote down his answers before flipping over the paper. Now they just had to wait.

The forty-five minutes had finally passed and Ibiki observed the genins who still remained. Several had been kicked out but the majority still stayed. _'Not bad, but lets see if they've got what it REALLY takes' _the man smirked. "Stop writing!" barked the man. There was a clatter of pencils being set down and the man glared at the remaining ninjas. "Its time for the tenth question but there are some rules for this one as well," there were some grumbles meeting this statement, "Silence!" barked the large man, "The first rule is that you do not have to take the question, but if you choose not to accept the tenth question, you and your team will fail," there was a bit of confusion at that statement.

"But if you take the question and fail to answer it correctly," here Ibiki paused with a sinister smirk, "you will never be allowed to became chuunin and will be barred from the exams for the rest of your lives!" he shouted. At that there was a roar of protest.

"Wait a minute! There are plenty of genin here that have taken this test before!" Temari shouted at the man.

"The blonde hottie's right ya scarred freak! Who in the nine hells gave you the right to bar people from becoming chuunin?" Doku growled, causing Temari to blush and Sakura's blood to boil.

"Tough shit!" Ibiki barked, "You were all just unlucky enough to have me as the first examiner! Now who's going to chicken out and save their sorry ass?" Ibiki demanded. At first thee was no response than one person had raised their hand. That one person had led to about a third of the genins giving up and moving to the back of the room. More would have given up until a certain angry genin spoke up.

"Cowards!" Doku roared, "You don't even know what the question is! For all we know it could be a question about what your favorite color is!" ranted the boy.

"Are you an idiot?" yelled one of the genin that had given up, "you saw those other questions and I'll bet everyone here had to cheat just to get an answer!"

"So you just give up because things could be harder?" Doku accused, "On my first C-rank my team and I were attacked by the Demon Brothers! They were nuke-nin that nearly killed my brother but we didn't give up! Not even when the Demon of the Bloody Mist came and nearly took our heads off!" Doku roared, surprising a good number of people. "No mission is easy except for D-ranks and I will not give up and stay a genin because I'm afraid I'll be stuck one forever!" here Doku turned and unsheathed his sword, pointing it straight at Ibiki, "Give us the question and even if I get it wrong I'll fight you for the rank of chuunin!"

Everybody stared in awe of Doku. Naruto smiled at his brother, a sense of pride filling him up. Yoku smirked but palmed his face anyway, both embarrassed and proud of his brother's actions. Even Sasuke gave him a look filled with respect, though no one saw it. Everyone else just got a determined look while those who had given up just felt ashamed.

Sakura… Sakura stared in awe of Doku. She had nearly given up, but that speech had shown her she was being the one thing Doku hated beyond anything, a coward. She knew that if she had given up, Doku would have lost a lot of respect for Sakura and for some reason she didn't want that. She was also amazed that Doku would actually challenge someone like this man just for a promotion. A logical part in her mind said that stupid but she knew that this wasn't a matter of rank, but one of pride and honor.

She knew that Doku would not give up unless he had given his all and then some. If he allowed himself to be defeated by a matter of the wrong answer, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. She smiled and thought, _'I can't let Doku-kun down'_ she blinked at that, _'Doku-kun? When did THAT happen? I don't like Doku like that! ... Do I?'_ Inner Sakura also seemed confused.

Ibiki glared at the kid and said three words. "All cowards leave," reluctantly, those who gave up shuffled out the door in shame. Once the last had left Ibiki smirked while still glaring at Doku who had lowered his arm but was standing with his sword ready, all while still matching the scarred man's own glare. _'This kid… I like him'_ thought the man. "Those who are still here…" he paused and watched out of the corner of his eyes as everyone tensed while Doku's burning red eyes changed to resemble steel the color of blood. "pass, congratulations on passing the first exam gakis, especially you red-eyes" Ibiki said with a smile as he watched surprise the confusion enter Doku's eyes, which will be mirrored by everyone in

3…

2…

1…

"NANI?" was the collective shout and shriek of everyone there except for Naruto who had fallen over clutching his ears in pain as the girls from earlier had passed as well. Apparently his hearing had become a lot better than before, a testament to the fact he was becoming a fox hanyou.

"GAAARRG! My ears are bleeding! I'm going to kill that damn fox!" Naruto roared. Everyone just gave him an odd look before he finally recovered and got back up. "Since I seem to have the attention, how exactly did we pass? What about the tenth question," Naruto asked. Ibiki chuckled before removing his bandana. Everyone gasper or were shocked to see that his forehead had scars, burns and even puncture wounds, obvious after affects from torture. "Holy Kami," Naruto breathed out.

"In the ninja world, you will be required to take on missions that are vital to your village but are extremely dangerous with unknown variables," Ibiki said. "As ninja, you must be willing to risk everything to complete the mission, your life, limbs, and general health. Thus the tenth question is this," Ibiki explained then glared at the genin, "Do you take the mission and risk everything even when you know next to nothing about it, only that many your village's survival depends on it? When you DO know that there will be powerful enemies ahead?" asked the man.

Everyone had a stoic face at that. Quietly a voice spoke up, "I'll take that mission, my village and those inside of it mean more to me than all the wealth in the world," everyone turned to see Yoku speaking, eyes seemingly gazing off into the distance when in reality he was looking into one of Haku's mirrors, staring at the girl reflected. Haku stared back at the reflection of Yoku with a smile and a loving look in her eyes as he finished speaking, "I will die to defend that which is precious to me," he finished with a small smile and a loving gaze a he stared at Haku through the mirror.

The loving moment was ruined however when a black ball slammed through a window and burst open, becoming a banner and releasing a huge amount of smoke. When it cleared it revealed a banner saying 'your next proctors the sexy, single Anko Mitarashi! And the demon of the bloody mist Zabuza Mamochi!' which caused Yoku and Haku to pale considerably. They were both in a pose, Anko with a dango stick cleaning her teeth and legs in a wide stance while the other dangled a kunai from her finger. Zabuza was crouched low to the ground, Sword out and slung over his shoulder looking like a predator searching for his next meal. Anko then threw away her stick and shouted, "Alright maggots! My name is Anko Mitarashi and this is Zabuza Mamochi! We're your proctors for the next exam!" everbody just stared at her like she was crazy while Doku did something no one saw coming.

Doku unsheathed his sword and leapt at the seated form of Zabuza, sword poised for an overhead strike. Surprised Anko leapt out of the way while Zabuza just blocked the strike with his own sword, not even getting up from his position. Everybody was surprised except for Anko who was smirking, Haku who just sighed and Yoku, who mimicked Haku's action. "Not bad gaki, you're almost there," Zabuza stated as he threw off the blade, got up, and ruffled a grinning Doku's hair.

"Just wait sensei, I promise I'll make you proud you gave me this blade," Doku stated making everyone get even more confused except for those who knew the two personally.

"Heh, you better, I don't want to think I gave you that blade for nothing," said the man as he stood up.

"You're early once again Anko," Ibiki deadpanned to the snake mistress.

Anko scratched the back of her head with a sheepish smile before she looked back to the genin. "Whats the big deal Ibiki? There are like 32 teams here! You going soft on me?" she questioned. Ibiki just grumbled something about a better crop this year. She just shrugged and turned back to the genin with a very mischievous glint in her eyes. "Well that won't matter, by the time I'm done more than half of them will be gone!" she said with a wicked grin causing all the genin to pale. "I want all of you at training ground 44 in the next five minutes or else you become training dummies for Zabu-kun here," Anko said with a smirk while Zabuza stared at them with bloodlust. Needless to say the room emptied quickly except for team 7 and Zabuza's team.

"Why they let her proctor the second exam I'll never know," Yoku grumbled as he and Haku started to walk away.

"Oi! You two love birds better not be late!" shouted Anko at the two genin who stopped and blushed in embarrassment. "Or if you are late it better be because you're giving Zabu-kun and me some grandchildren!" she shouted. Embarrassed beyond belief the genin tore out of there, causing everyone there to laugh, while Sasuke actually smiled at the scene. Soon, everyone left for the next exam the forest of death.

**Naruto's Mind**

Kyuubi smiled as he looked into the lake, seeing what his son had seen. The fox sighed as he let the shared sght link go and was faced with his own reflection. Staring back at him, was a nine-tailed fox but his fur was turning grey, his eyes loosing their shine and becoming duller with each passing day, the same as his fur. He turned his head to see that two of his tails had disappeared leaving him with seven drooping tails.

'_I'm going to miss this place'_ thought the fox as he shuffled into the forest before stopping by a tree surrounded lavender flowers. The fox smiled, _'You have everything you need son and soon we'll have to say goodbye'_ and with that the fox laid his weakening body down upon the grass letting a lone tear mixed of both happiness and sorrow fall from his eye.

**A/N: First exam complete! Red and review people!**


	13. Forest of Death Pt 1

"A Warrior, An Archer and A Fox

"Spoken"

'_Thought_'

**"****Summons/Demon speaking"**

**'Summon/Demon thought'**

**A/N: Hello everyone! Its time for another chapter but this time we enter the forest of…. Wait for it….. DEATH! And for those of you wondering, yes Anko and Zabuza are together, and as for Doku and Sakura… well we'll see how that plays out ne? Also I'm sorry Hinata wasn't seen last time but, well, the first exam has always been boring to me. Also don't worry about Naruto going over board with shadow clone training and becoming mega super ultra Naruto in like what, two days? A week? NO! Besides, he's absorbing the Kyuubi's power so why make him stronger? Granted power is almsot nothing without some kind of control, but still. Anyway enough talk, on with the show!**

"You have got to be kidding me," Naruto said in a dumbstruck voice as he looked at where the next exam would be taken. The chuunin hopefuls had all arrived at a very large, dark and foreboding forest that was fenced off with a sign that said training ground number 44, otherwise known as…

"Welcome to Training ground 44 maggots, but to the locals we like to call this place the Forest of Death!" Anko declared, causing a large number of the genin to gulp in fear.

"Now the rules for this part of the exam are simple," Zabuza growled as he stood next to Anko. "You will be given one of two scrolls, an earth scroll," here he held up a brown scroll with the kanji for earth on it, "or a heaven scroll," he finished while holding a white scroll with the kanji for heaven in his other hand. "You have five days to get to the tower in the center of the forest with BOTH scrolls in your possession," Zabuza declared. "I don't think I have to explain how you get the other scroll," he finished with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

"What are we supposed to do for food?" asked a frantic Chouji.

"Kill something and eat it or find some juicy bugs and roots," Zabuza replied, "Though I suggest killing something and eating it due to the fact that you might end up poisoned, regardless if it's a fellow shinobi or an animal" he said with dark chuckle.

"There are also a couple of catches," Anko said with a smirk. "You can't look at the scrolls, you need a full team to pass, and, " here she gave a vicious smirk, "killing is allowed," she said sadistically with a twinkle in her.

"I swear the idea of pain makes her hornier that a dog in heat," Doku muttered. The next thing Doku knew was that he had a lightly bleeding cheek and one Anko licking it up.

"Maybe, maybe not," Anko purred into his ear causing the boy to blush, "maybe you could find out one of these days ne?" she suggested huskily. That last comment did it for the perverted genin. With a lecherous grin, Doku fainted with a small trickle of blood coming from his nose. Anko just laughed at the boy.

As Doku got up Zabuza appeared in front of him his arms crosses and a shadow covering his eyes. "Now I know one of my students wouldn't be having perverted thoughts about my girl, right?" he asked in a dangerous tone, a single eye glaring at the boy as the background behind him turned black.

Doku chuckled nervously before holding his hands up in a placating manner, "No worries sensei, plenty of other pretty women around," he said while winking at a certain blonde sand kunochi. Temari blushed a bit but decided to get back at the boy by licking her lips a bit. This of course, caused Sakura to dispense some righteous fury.

"STOP BEING A PERVERT!" She roared as she sent a flying kick to the Tsuuro's head and started stomping on him anime style. Anko chuckled at this but was pulled from watching the show when she saw several kunai wrapped in tongue being held in front of her. Surprised she followed the extremely long tongue back to a female Kusa with a bit of a snake like disposition.

"You dropped these," she hissed. Anko just took them while Sakura had stopped stomping on Doku to look at the female nin in a mixture of horror, disgust and fascination.

From his crumpled heap Doku gurgled, "Totally… not… a chick," while pointing a crooked finger at the female. "Cross… dresser," and with that, he was once again on the receiving end of an angry Sakura.

"DON'T INSULT WOMEN LIKE THAT!" she roared while punt kicking the boy into the forest, the forest of Death to be precise. She only registered what she had done when she heard the sounds of creatures roaring and Doku's own battle cries.

"ARRRRGGG! Get your mandibles off of me you damn dirty CENTIPEDE!" roared Doku's voice, a strange chattering hiss following along. There was the sound of cursing and hissing when Doku shouted. "That's it! Bug Killing Style: Big Ass Boot Jutsu!" followed by the sounds of stomping and frightened clicking. There was a big splat and then there was silence. "Aw maaan! Theres bug guts all over my favorite boot!" Doku cried, causing a good many to sweatdrop. "Well at least the worst part is ov- wait, what the? AGGG HELP! THE PIGMYS ARE ATTACKING!" he cried. The sound was followed by a whole bunch of clicking and native war cries as well as fighting and Doku's curses. Then there was silence.

"Doku-kun?" Sakura whispered fearfully. Without warning, bruised, hair even more disheveled, tears in his clothing and wearing only one sandal, Doku came flying back out of the forest, skidding face first for a couple of feet before stopping at Sakura's feet with a painful groan. "DOKU-KUN!" she cried in fear, quickly flipping the boy over and resting his head in her lap.

"Sa-Sakua-chan," Doku whispered through a bleeding lip. "Will you… do me a favor?" he asked. "I don't think I have much time left," he whispered dramatically, punctuating it with a cough.

"Stop talking Doku, you'll be fine," Sakura replied, her voice almost cracking and tears threatening to burst from her eyes.

"Please Sakura-chan," coughed the boy, a hand reaching up to cup her face, "just do me this one last request," he whispered with a smile.

"What?" she asked, nearly crying but holding strong to carry out his last request.

"Can I," he started out quietly, looking on the verge of death. "Can I get to second base with you?" he asked loudly with a face splitting perverted grin and wounds completely healed.

Sakura blinked once, twice before what he said registered in her mind. "HENTAI!" she roared, face completely red with both anger and embarrassment as she grabbed the boys sword and began chasing him around the clearing with it, swinging the giant blade wildly she chased Doku, a furious expression on her face as Doku ran away shouting apologies and that he was joking.

Everyone watched on in amusement, embarrassment or just plain confusion. "Alright knock it off!" Anko barked, as Zabuza appeared grabbing both genin by their shirts and lifting them into the air. Zabuza had also kicked the sword from Sakura's hand causing it to land with a soft thump on the ground, as well as keep it from being used to kill its wielder.

'_Blade has bad habit of doing that'_ Zabuza mused. "Doku, stop aggravating the girl or I'm going to ask Anko to help you with your pain tolerance training, no restraints," Zabuza growled to his student, causing said boy to pale considerably. Zabuza was sadistic in making sure Doku could handle different kinds of pain, an excuse being that he was prepping his body for terrible fights and the possibility of torture. Anko on the other hand was a professional in torture and interrogation meaning she knew seven ways from Sunday to turn you into a bleeding quivering pile of mangled limbs and a broken mind. Doku was just grateful that she hadn't figured out his crippling fear of water.

"Ok brats before you get your scroll you need to sign these," Anko proclaimed, holding up a document, "By signing these, you agree that Konoha isn't responsible for any injuries or deaths that may and will occur from this point till the end of the exam, you need three in order to get a scroll," she declared before passing out the waivers. Soon, they were all signed and every team had a scroll. "One more piece of advice maggots," Anko said to the genin gathered, "try not t die," she smirked. On that note, the genin marched off with their teams to their starting gates.

Not five minutes after the squads had reached their gates did the buzzer go off and the gates swing open. With feelings of determination, fear and excitement bubbling in their hearts, the genin leapt into the forest to begin the second exam.

**Team 7, several miles into the forest**

Team 7 had stopped on a thick branch of one of the many ancient and gargantuan trees of the forest to plan their next move. "The first thing we need to do is come up with a password so we know who is who. In case we get separated," Sasuke spoke.

"Good idea, what did you have in mind?" Sakura asked the boy. While the two discussed the password Naruto was only slightly paying attention. The blonde was keeping an eye and both ears out for danger because without the genin, this place was dangerous, but with genin, it was a deathtrap waiting to be sprung.

"So that's the password," Sasuke finished while Sakura cocked an eyebrow at it. The password was this; one person would ask 'when is the best time to attack an enemy' and the second would reply 'in his sleep'. She thought any ninja worth his salt would be able to figure that out so she decided to ask Naruto.

"Naruto what do you think about the password?" Sakura asked, only to turn and see the blonde focusing on something else entirely. Slightly angry, she bobbed him on the head and semi shouted, "Oi! Pay attention!"

Rubbing his head and grinning sheepishly Naruto apologized to his pink haired teammate. "Sorry Sakura, its just that this forest has a nasty way of surprising people when they aren't paying attention," Naruto explained. "Now what were you talking about?" he asked. Sakura sighed and told him the password Sasuke chose. "Seriously?" Naruto questioned, "That's a bit obvious don't you think?" asked the boy, much to the Uchiha's ire.

"Then what would be a good one dobe?" challenged the boy.

The blonde hummed in thought a bit before deciding to ask his surrogate father. After all, the blonde may be smart but he didn't exactly have anything creative enough for a password. That's not to say he didn't have a few, but he figured any competent enemy would be able to figure it out._ 'Hey Tou-san?'_ asked the boy to the aging fox.

"**Yes?" **Kyuubi replied in a slightly wizened growl, hoping Naruto hadn't heard his slightly aged voice.

'_You know any good passwords we could use?'_ asked the blonde, oblivious to the slowly dying demon inside of him.

The Kyuubi mentally sighed in relief, no need to worry his son when in the middle of dangerous territory. **"Sure, just let me look through this old head of mine,"** stated the fox. A couple minutes passed before the Kyuubi gave a content sigh, "I think this one might work." said the demon.

Naruto listened intently to the old demon's words before slowly smiling. "Ok how about this one?" smirked the blonde before taking a deep breath, "What devours man, plant and beast alike, slays both kings and demons, and beats even the highest of mountains down?" asked the blonde.

Sasuke and Sakura blinked before thinking deeply about the riddle. _'It kills demons, eats plants, animals, and humans as well as destroys mountains'_ thought Sasuke, while Sakura thought the same thing. The Uchiha grunted in annoyance, thinking the answer probably had to be some great beast of legend. Sasuke just snorted at that, Uchihas didn't have time for such petty things like myths; those were for the common folk and children.

Sakura was desperately trying to remember mention of some creature that did all this. Suddenly a light bulb clicked as she smirked, "It's the Kyuubi," she said confidently, remembering stories of how its tails shattered the strongest of mountains and how it devoured hordes of men, and how it was said that it must have eaten thousands upon thousands of prey every day. As for it killing demons, was it not just as likely for demons to kill each other like humans do?

"Good guess but no," Naruto chuckled, causing Sakura to flail her arms in shock before falling forward on her face, the sheer fact that she, Sakura Haruno the smartest of their class, was wrong!

"Then what is the answer dobe?" asked Sasuke irritably.

"That's easy, its time," answered the blonde. He watched with amusement, as the confused looks started to lighten with realization. "Time devours everything, be they plant, man, or beast, kills demons and kings alike as well as beating down the highest of mountains," Naruto smiled. His teammates blinked at that but agreed that it was a good password, although Sasuke did it quite grudgingly.

"Now that that's out of the way, do you know anything about this forest dobe?" Sasuke questioned the blonde. The Uchiha knew that Naruto was a wilderness survivalist expert and if anyone in Konoha wanted to find out about what resided in the forests of Konoha, Naruto was the well of information to be pumped.

"Well first off, try to stay off the ground as much as possible," Naruto advised. "Nearly everything in this forest will eat you, no matter if you were alive, freshly killed, or decomposing for three days, if you have meat and blood on you, you're food," Naruto stated seriously. "Luckily though, the majority of dangerous creatures in this forest stick to the ground so if we stay up high, we'll be safe," the blonde reassured them.

"What kinds of animals inhabit this forest?" Sakura asked.

"Well, there are tigers, jaguars and wolves, which are all about twice as ferocious as the regular versions. They can also grow to be twice the size of regular one," Naruto informed them. Sakura nodded, that made sense considering where they were. "Also, there are giant cannibalistic insects in this forest," Naruto told them, causing Sakura to shiver in fear.

"When you say giant cannibalistic bugs, how giant and how cannibalistic are these bugs?" Sakura asked fearfully, the color slowly draining form her body. In reply the blonde just pointed towards the forest floor in reply. Slowly the other two members of team 7 looked towards the indicated spot only for their jaws to drop in surprise and shock. On the floor were two giant writhing black masses with millions of legs and giant disgusting mandibles dripping with saliva. Both insects seemed to be millipedes that had been given some kind of growth formula till they were at least ten feet long and over 5 feet in diameter. In morbid fascination, the genin watched as the bugs started to devour each other, not even waiting for the killing blow. Feeling sick the genin pulled back and desperately tried to stop themselves from vomiting.

"Anything else we should know about in these forests?" Sasuke asked after swallowing back his breakfast.

"Well there are some tribes of pigmies here, but they don't attack so long as you don't kill any of their sacred bugs," Naruto replied.

"Pigmies?" Sasuke asked.

"They're short dark skinned people that live in this forest. They're vicious little guys but they'll leave you alone for the most part and they tend to live in the more dangerous areas of the forest so the likely hood we come across them are pretty slim, however, if you kill one of their sacred bugs, they'll swarm like flies to a festering carcass," Naruto explained. "Also the difference between those bugs and the sacred bugs is that the sacred bugs will have a golden symbol or collar on them," Naruto finished. Sasuke just grunted before getting up.

"Come one, we might as well get moving in search of the other teams," said the Uchiha before leaping off, Naruto and Sakura right behind him.

Just as the team was about to leap off another branch Sasuke jumped back and tackled both of his teammates to the ground, just barely saving them all from a giant boulder that had been thrown at them. Recovering, team 7 landed on the ground, backs to each other as they waited for the enemy to attack again. Sasuke's sharingan was activated, twin tomoe spinning in both his crimson eyes. Naruto had activated his chakra claws while Sakura pulled out two kunai.

"You brats really think you can take us on?" shouted a voice before hundreds upon hundreds of clones started to surround the genin. The clones were all wearing Ame headbands and sickeningly yellow jumpsuit with some kind of breathing device covering the majority of their lower faces. The only difference was that some clones had two eyeholes cut out of the cloth around their eyes, others had one cut out and the rest had just a blindfold. "Hand over the scroll or die," came the voice again, echoing all over the clearing, making it impossible to find the exact location of the speaker.

"This is bad," Sakura muttered, shaking slightly at the sheer amount of enemies in front of her. Sasuke just grunted, every muscle tense and waiting.

"We need a plan, keep tight and try to find a wall we can put our backs to," Naruto told his teammates. Sasuke and Sakura nodded, it would keep their backs covered until they were ready with an actual plan.

'_I wonder how the others are doing?'_ Naruto mused as his team moved as one towards a tree, cutting through a mixture of simple bunshin and mud clones.

**Another part of the forest.**

"Kiba! Duck!" Hinata shouted, her Byakugan blazing and allowing her to help her team even while blocking another kick from her opponent before quickly closing off the tenketsu points in the girls leg. The attacking girl backed off with a hiss of pain, her face over done with make up in a frown of hatred.

"I'll make you pay for that you little bitch!" shouted the angered girl only to get an open palm to the face and pass into blissful unconsciousness. Turning, she saw Kiba and an exact duplicate of the wild boy slam into their enemy from both sides, effectively smashing him and causing their victim to black out from the pain. She also noticed Shino walking towards them, a black writhing mass on his downed opponent.

"Ha! Those guys didn't stand a chance, right Akamaru?" Kiba said to his duplicate. The duplicate was covered with smoke before it cleared t reveal a small white dog. Akamaru barked in agreement before jumping into his partner's coat.

"Hinata, could you please find their scroll for us?" Shino asked, hands deep inside his trench coat pockets. The girl nodded and walked over to her downed opponent before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a heaven scroll. She smiled in delight at this, it was the scroll they needed to pass!

"It's a heaven scroll," the Hyuuga told her teammates proudly before handing it over to Shino.

"Ha! This test is easy! Come on lets get to the tower already!" Kiba declared before jumping off.

"W-Wait! Kiba-kun!" Hinata shouted after her teammate, worried that he might get hurt. Shino just sighed, he loved his team like family, he really did, but sometimes he just wished they were a little more professional. That, and the fact they had no idea where they were supposed to be going. _'I wonder if Yoku deals with these kinds of problems'_ Shino mused about his grey-eyed friend.

**In yet another part of the forest**

'_Kami above someone please make it stop!'_ Yoku pleaded in his mind. His team had decided to ambush teams that came towards the tower and therefore had set up traps along the south eastern part of the tower while hiding high up in a tree, concealed by leaves and branches but still allowing a view of the area. Currently, Yoku and Doku were waiting for Haku to return from her scouting mission and Doku was currently singing '100 bottles of beer on the wall' while sharpening his sword.

Yoku already detested the sound of a blade being sharpened but with his own brother singing an already annoying song off key, well, he was ready to take his curved swords and jam them into his eardrums. "You do realize that you don't have to sharpen that blade right? Its got a seal to repair itself and keep it sharp," Yoku told his brother, hoping for a reprieve from the singing.

Doku stopped for a moment before shrugging and continuing his task, "Helps pass the time," he replied happily, "Besides, Zangyaku (Savagery) likes a good sharpening every now and then," and with that the red eyed boy started to sing again.

"And the singing?" Yoku asked with annoyance, ready to strangle his twin.

"Boredom," he said with a cheeky grin, going back to singing and sharpening his blade. Just as Yoku was about to carry out his plan to become an only child, Haku appeared, mask off and a very frightened look on her face.

"Whats wrong?" Yoku demanded, a worried glint in his eye. Doku had stopped his sharpening and had his sword on his back, ready to move.

"You won't believe it until you see it," Haku responded a bit of a haunted look crossing her normally pretty features. With that she leapt off, Doku and Yoku in hot pursuit. They had traveled for about five minutes before it hit them.

Blood, the scent of it hung in the air heavy and thick while the feeling of bloodlust ran rampant through the place. Doku tensed up a bit and unsheathed his sword, ready to fight at a moment's notice while Yoku also drew some kunai. They looked to see Haku had placed the mask on her face and had drawn some senbon. They stopped in a branch and peered into the clearing that was the source of the metallic scent of blood and the bloodlust. What they saw shocked them beyond belief.

There in the clearing were the corpses of not one, but three genin teams! Their bodies seemed to have been completely and utterly squashed, as if some giant had grabbed them and squeezed until they popped, making them look like bloody heaps with no distinguishable features, no way to discern between male or female. Another defining feature about the area was the gallons upon gallons of sand shifting everywhere, all seeming to be sucked back into a certain red headed Suna nin's gourd.

"Damn," breathed Doku, "And here I thought sensei and I were bloodthirsty," shuddered the boy, his body tightening in hungry anticipation as his eyes started to light up with the light of battle. On his back, he felt his sword hum in anticipation, it too wishing to fight this obviously strong opponent.

"Doku, stand down," Yoku ordered, sending hand signals to Haku to dispatch their teammate if he didn't control himself. He watched as a blonde girl grabbed one of the scrolls from the mangled corpses before turning to her teammates. They spoke for a bit before leaping off. Waiting for a moment, Zabuza's students leapt into the clearing to inspect the damage more closely.

"It seems they were all crushed to death," Haku stated as she looked over a body. Reaching into the corpse's pouch, she found a heaven scroll. She frowned slightly at that; they needed an earth scroll, not another heaven. Sighing, the girl pocketed the scroll anyway; she then got up and went over to Yoku who was deep in concentration. Doku was searching through the other corpses, looking for a scroll obviously.

"Whats wrong Yoku-kun?" Haku asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Its that boy, Gaara" Yoku replied, "From what I can see with the corpses, he was the only one to actually fight,"

"Are you sure it was just him?" asked Haku, a worried look creasing he pretty features but remained hidden by the mask. "Surely no ordinary genin can do this much damage alone," reasoned the girl.

"That's just it Haku, I think Gaara is something more than a regular genin," Yoku said, his mind abuzz with solutions. Of all of them though, one stood out the most. The boy had seen power like this before only once, it was when Naruto had gone into a demonic fit when they were attacked while still in the academy by some civilians. It was the last time they were attacked, not surprising considering the area had literally been painted with blood.

"I think Gaara may be like Naruto," Yoku said. This caught the attention of Doku who was approaching with an earth scroll.

"What do you mean he's like Naruto?" asked Doku, a wary light in his eye.

"I think Gaara may be a jinchuuriki," Yoku admitted in a flat voice, his calculating grey eyes resembling sharpened steel. Haku gasped somewhat at that while Doku's eyes narrowed. Pocketing the scroll the red-eyed boy began walking away.

"We need to find Naruto," Doku declared, not stopping his walk. Yoku merely nodded and followed after his brother, a confused Haku trailing behind.

"Why are we going to find Naruto?" asked the ice user.

"Because he needs to know and demons, especially ones inside unstable containers, have a tendency to seek out strong opponents and kill them, if only to prove their superiority," Yoku explained before leaping off into the trees with his brother and the ice princess. "Besides, I'd like to personally make sure my family makes it through this test alive," finished the Tsuuro with a small smile.

"Well how are we going to find him?" Haku asked.

Yoku stopped quickly and removed the glove he wore on his right hand, revealing a black kanji tattoo for family. "This seal lets me know where my family is when I add chakra to it. When chakra is directed into it, the seal sends me information on which direction the family member I'm thinking about is, it also heats up in regards to how close I am to that person." Yoku explained before putting the glove back on, Haku just nodded as Yoku took point, the seal pulling him west.

**With Team 7**

Team 7 had managed to put a tree to their backs and was now fending off the seemingly endless wave of clones. Naruto was using the second level of his chakra manipulation, using his chakra for mid range combat. The blonde had changed from his chakra claws to chakra whips allowing the blonde an extended range and his team more breathing room. While the blonde still wasn't able to keep the claws formed on the ends, the whips more than served their purpose in providing breathing room.

Sakura was using kunai and shuriken to keep them at bay along with an earth spear for those that got too close. Sasuke was desperately using the sharingan to try and locate the source of these clones but the entire clearing floor was saturated with chakra, making finding the exact location rather difficult since the clones would just rise up from the ground, not from a direct source. Basically, he saw nothing but the middleman and product, not the supplier.

'_It just a good thing this technique seems to require huge amounts of chakra, probably all three of their team has to do this'_ thought the Uchiha. Though he guessed that they were just waiting for their targets to tire before striking _'Fat chance considering Naruto's reserves'_ thought the boy. However they couldn't keep this up forever, they needed to take a gamble and try to flush out their enemies. But how?

Suddenly and idea came to his mind. Thinking quickly, the Uchiha threw down several smoke bombs, enveloping his team in a cloud of smoke. The clones hesitated before going after the three fleeing members of team 7. Quickly the clones surrounded the three panting members of team 7 with triumphant looks. "Did you really think that would work?" taunted the voice.

Naruto, who was in the middle just gave a tired smile, "No, but this might," clapping his hands together in the tora seal Naruto said one word. "boom," he whispered, and with that all three members of team 7 exploded in a rain of blood and gore, taking a huge chunk of the clones with them. As the dust and debris settled, the clones disappeared and the three real Ame-nins appeared.

"Dammit, those dumbasses didn't have to kill blow themselves up!" complained one.

"Shut up and try to find their scroll," grumbled their leader, "Considering that explosion, we'll be lucky if it's still intact,"

Before they could start searching though, two burning red chakra claws burst from the forest and grabbed the one eyed and no eyed Ame nins. Firmly grasping the two frightened ninjas, the claws retracted. The leader heard some stifled screams before they were silenced..

"What the hell?" semi-shouted the leader. Taking out some kunai, he dropped into a defensive stance waiting for the attack. He didn't have long to wait as several kunai came flying at him , surprised, the Ame nin deflected them and was surprised when the air in front of him shimmered and left to reveal Sakura throwing a punch towards him. The fist connected and sent the surprised jumpsuit-wearing enemy flying.

Struggling, he managed to flip himself and land in a crouch only to roll to the side to avoid another of the girl's strikes. Growling, he was about to attack again when Sakura went up in a poof of smoke replaced with Sasuke, his sharingan whirling. The Ame nin was so surprised he just stared into the red eyes, his own transfixed by the two spinning tomoe in each one. Slowly, he started to get sleepy, his eyelids drooping as he continued to gaze at the swirling black and red vortex that were Sasuke's eyes. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the ninja realized he should look away, but he could not bring himself to follow the words.

"Sleep," Sasuke commanded, and smirked when his enemy hit the dirt, out like a light. Deactivating his eyes, Sasuke stumbled a bit before being caught by a concerned Sakura. The technique he used was simple, but it was a very chakra draining one without a fully matured sharingan. With a full sharingan, it was child's play, but Sasuke was an intermediate. Sasuke gave Sakura a grateful nod to his teammate before standing up and searching the leader he had just put to sleep.

"Man Sasuke your skills must suck if they literally put your enemies to sleep," Naruto teased lightly as he emerged from the forest dragging the other two ninjas. Sasuke just grunted while Sakura smiled lightly.

"Damn, that was impressive," said a familiar voice. Team 7's heads snapped up to look into a large tree. Standing on the branches were Yoku and Haku while Doku was crouched down, sitting on his heels with a smirk on his face. The team then leapt down and approached Team 7.

"How long have you guys been there?" asked Sakura wearily, her hand inching towards her kunai pouch just in case.

"Chill Sakura, we aren't going to attack, we actually came with some news," Yoku declared. Naruto just shrugged before looking through the pockets of the Rain nin to fin another earth scroll.

"Dammit, was hoping to find a heaven," grumbled the blonde. Sighing, Naruto decided to put the scroll back. Hearing something being tossed to him, Naruto turned and got a heaven scroll with a surprised look towards Haku, while Sakura, Sasuke and Yoku also had shocked looks. "Um, thanks?" asked the blonde.

Haku giggled a bit before replying, "Consider it a way of repaying you for not killing me and bringing Tou-san and I to Konoha," Doku grinned at that while Yoku just shrugged.

"But what about you guys? You need it as much as we do to pass," Sakura stated worriedly.

"We already have the scrolls we need Sakura-chan," Doku stated while revealing his earth scroll while Haku held up their heaven scroll. "Like Yoku said though, we're here with some bad news," Doku said with a serious tone. Sakura got a little nervous at that, if Doku was serious about whatever it was they needed to tell him then it was bad. Doku was hardly ever serious.

"That kid, Gaara," Yoku started, "He slaughtered three genin teams at once by himself," stated the Tsuuro flatly. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, Sakura got a fearful look while Naruto was surprised.

"How is that possible?" demanded Sasuke, a bit envious and very wary of a genin with that kind of strength.

Yoku and Naruto shared a look, before Naruto nodded his head slightly. "Gaara is a jinchuuriki," he stated. This only got a blank look from Sasuke while Sakura looked even more surprised and scared.

"J-Jinchuuriki?" she asked in fear. When they were still in the academy on their second year, a substitute teacher had been assigned to teach the class. It was a history lesson on summons and bijuu, during that time the teacher had said that it was impossible to kill a Bijuu, but the Yondaime was the exception. As he had said that the teacher had been glaring at an oblivious Naruto.

**Flashback**

"If you can't kill a Bijuu then how do you defeat it?" asked a random student to the substitute who was glaring at Naruto.,the blonde however was just ignoring him, instead keeping his head down while doodling something. Yoku, who was on his left regarded the teacher with cold detachment while Doku, who was on Naruto's right, was glaring right back at the chuunin.

"The only way to defeat those _demons_," the teacher spat, "was to seal them into something. Objects could be used but those containers were easily broken with an exception being the Ichibi," stated the man.

"So if you couldn't use objects, then what were the Bijuu sealed into?" asked a curious Sakura.

The chuunin frowned and said, "They were put into humans, usually at the cost of the caster's life," here the man's glare at Naruto intensified, "these human containers were called Jinchuuriki and are still around today, but since the nine tailed on is gone," here the man seemed reluctant to say that, "There are only 8 left. As it is, all of them are sealed, but be warned class," here he sent a bit of sneer towards the still oblivious Uzumaki, "Jinchuuriki are not to be trusted and are more often than naught, controlled by the creature they are supposed to contain. Jinchuuriki are not humans, but demons in human form that will kill you without batting an eye," warned the man. "If you ever encounter one in the field, run as quickly as possible and if the opportunity ever arises for you to kill them," he paused and sent a small sadistic smirk towards Naruto, who had finally paid attention to the man. " take it, and take pride in the fact that you saved your village from an abomination," he said with a pointed glare towards Naruto, which the entire class noticed. Everyone turned to look at Naruto, wondering why the substitute was glaring at the dead last.

In return, Naruto just grinned and held up a picture of a well-drawn nine tailed fox devouring what appeared to be the substitute. The substitute had a look of fear spread across his face before he yelled at the boy to get out of his classroom.

**End Flashback**

"Please tell me your joking," begged a frantic Sakura, now terrified for her life. Sasuke still looked confused and he made it apparent.

"What the hell is a jinchuuriki?" he demanded. Everyone cocked an eyebrow at him before Naruto decided to answer.

"A jinchuuriki, also known as the power of human sacrifice, is a person who contains a bijuu inside of them," when Sasuke heard this and made the connection to Gaara, he paled slightly.

A thought crossed Naruto's mind as he absorbed this new information. His eyes widened in fear before he whispered a name, "Hinata-chan," snapping his head up the boy gave his friends a serious look, "We need to find team 8," he declared, nose already searching for the familiar scent of lavender mixed with cinnamon.

"What? Why/" asked a confused Doku. His confusion was mirrored in the faces of Sakura, Sasuke and Haku. Yoku however said something else.

"We do not have time Naruto, we need ti get to the tower," he stated.

"What about Hinata? I won't leave her alone in this place with Gaara running around!" barked the blonde.

"She will be fine, Naruto," Yoku said with narrowed eyes, "Do you doubt her skills as a kunochi? Do you not trust that Shino and Kiba will keep her safe?" Yoku asked.

"No!" shouted Naruto, "It's just, I-" he trailed off a desperate and worried look in his eyes.

"She will be fine," Yoku assured his surrogate brother, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I promise you that Hinata will make it to the tower safely,"

Naruto chewed his lip indecisively for a moment before he gave Yoku a hard look, "If Gaara ends up hurting her, I'm going after him, then, I'm going after you, got it?" Naruto stated in a harsh voice. Yoku just nodded.

"Come, we need to find a place to camp then move onto the tower, Sakura, carry the scrolls and stay in the center, Naruto, take point and find a suitable place, Doku stay behind Naruto. Sasuke and will flank Sakura while you bring up the rear Haku, understood?" ordered the genin. He was met with a chorus of hais and the group leapt into the trees. As they ran, Naruto offered a small prayer that Hinata stays safe.

After an hour or so, the group stopped at the base of a large dead tree. Sniffing a bit in his fox form, Naruto gave an excited yip before diving in to a man sized hole at the base of said tree. Confused, the others came forward to inspect where Naruto had left. They could hear the sounds of furious digging as well as several barks and growls, too many to signify just one fox.

"What the heck is he doing?" Doku wondered out loud. Suddenly the sounds of digging stopped and there was the sound of shadow clones being dismissed. Confused Sakura approached the hole.

"Naruto? Whats going on?" she called, a bit worried for her teammate and friend. Suddenly the foxy head of Naruto appeared from the hole, surprising the pink haired girl.

"Come on in guys!" he shouted before disappearing back into the hole. Shrugging, Doku leapt in, followed by Yoku, Haku, Sakura then Sasuke. When they entered they were surprised to find that they could stand up quite easily, with plenty of room left. They also noticed that the little den could easily hold up to three teams of genin.

"Welcome to the Foxhole!" Naruto said proudly as he shifted back to human form, this time however, the tail and ears refused to leave. Frowning, Naruto tried to remove them, but they just would not recede back into his body.

"**Looks like you're almost there kit,"** Kyuubi commented with a chuckle as Naruto tried once again to get rid of the ears and tail.

'_Dammit! Why did I have to go hanyou now? How exactly am I going to explain this to people!'_ Naruto ranted.

The Kyuubi just sighed before glancing at the two tails he had left. _**'Best to tell him now'**_thought the fox. **"Naruto, theres something you need to know about your transformation,"**

'_Eh? What is it Tou-san?'_ asked the blonde. Sighing once more the fox called the boy into his mind. Everybody watched as Naruto's eyes dimmed, curious and concerned for their friend.

"Whats wrong with him?" Haku asked. The Tsuuro twins shared a look before answering. "He'll be fine, just help us get him settled in," Doku stated while gently grabbing Naruto and setting him on the ground.

"You guys get to sleep, Doku and I will keep first watch," Yoku ordered the others. Sakura and Haku shot him a questioning stare before complying by taking the other end of the den. Sasuke just snorted and took a spot near the entrance, a kunai within reach.

Yoku and Doku sat next to their adopted sibling and glanced at each. "What do you suppose they're talking about?" asked Doku in a whisper. Yoku just shrugged in response.

**Naruto's mindscape**

Naruto etered his mind and was very surprised to see a two tailed grey furred and obviously aged fox standing in front of him. **"Hello kit,"** said the fox in a kind and wizened voice.

"T-Tou-san?" asked a surprised Naruto. The fox simply smiled a sad smile in return, "What's happening to you?" asked the blonde.

The Kyuubi sighed at that. **"Isn't it obvious?"** asked the fox in humorous voice, **"My age is finally catching up with me,"** chuckled the fox. Naruto's mouth twitched in amusement at that, but he immediately got a serious look.

"Tou-san, please tell me," Naruto asked patiently. Again the Kyuubi sighed before lying down, his legs too tired to keep him up. The fox gave Naruto a blank stare, "**I'm dying,"** he said flatly.

Naruto's eyes widened in alarm at those words. "What? How? Why?" he asked in a panicked voice.

"Naruto have you noticed that you've been growing stronger over the last few weeks?" asked Kyuubi.

"Yeah, but isn't it because I'm becoming a hanyou?" Naruto asked. The fox chuckled at that.

"**That is merely a side effect Naruto, all jinchuuriki become something more than human when they're demon is sealed within them. It is what allows them to use our chakra without too many repercussions,"** Kyuubi explained, **"The Fourth however, was a genius when it came to seals, and in his design of your seal, he added something extra," **

"Extra? What do you mean? Is it the failsafe we found?" Naruto asked as he recalled the failsafe that would activate should he ever unleash all nine tails. He wasn't sure what it did, but the Uzumaki guessed it had something to do with suppressing the youki.

"**No, it is something more,"** stated the fox, "**As you know, the seal is a bit like a funnel, it allows a concentrated amount into your body so you grow accustomed to the feeling of youki, however, unlike most seals that keep our chakra systems separate, this one has slowly been merging ours together while purging my mind from your being,"** the fox said solemnly.

Naruto seemed to get a devastated look as he heard this. "No! Please I can't lose you!" cried the boy, "Isn't there something we can do to stop this?" he asked. Kyuubi just shook his head and watched as the boy clutched his head in grief. Suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened and he immediately stood up and raced into the forest. Kyuubi was surprised until he caught Naruto's thoughts. Growling the fox raced after the boy, his body moving faster than thought possible for his condition.

Leaping into a clearing, the fox saw Naruto reach for a tree with a slip of paper with the word seal written in kanji on it. Barking, the fox tackled Naruto to the ground, pinning his hands with his tails while he sat on the boy's chest. **"Don't even think ripping that seal off!"** roared the nine tailed fox angrily.

"But if I rip the seal off it would-," started the blonde only to be cut off, "It would kill both of us while incinerating anything within a half mile radius of you!" snarled the demon.

"Then what do I do?" shouted the boy angrily, tears in his eyes "Can't I add a suppressor, or block it off or-," he pleaded "**YOU CAN'T SAVE EVERYONE NARUTO!" **roared the fox. Naruto just stared in shock at his father figure, tears threatening to spill. **"People close to you will die Naruto, it is a fate that we all share and while we would prefer our loved ones die in peaceful old age, we cannot deny that some will be taken earlier than we wish, be it suddenly and unexpectedly or slowly and with a full awareness, they will die,"** Kyuubi said in a resigned voice.

"Then what do I do?" Naruto asked in a defeated tone. "What can I do?"

Here Kyuubi laughed, **"You can start by stop acting like everything is hopeless,"** chuckled the fox**, "I can assure you that there is a life after so you will meet your precious ones again, but that doesn't mean you can stop protecting them now," **he smiled at the surprised look on his son's face. **"When you can, protect your loved ones with your life and mourn them when they die outside of your control, but never, NEVER allow what ifs and should haves to control you,"** the fox explained sagely.

Naruto, mulled over the words a bit before he smiled, "I understand Tou-san," he said, "Now could you get off of me? You maybe older but you're still fat!" Naruto taunted.

Kyuubi laughed at that and got off his son. **"Fat and old I may be, but I can still tan your hide with one tail and a paw tied behind my back!"** boasted the fox. The two laughed at that.

"How much longer do you have?" Naruto asked when the laughter had died down. The last Uzumaki tried to hold in his tears but the fox just shook his head at him.

"**You shouldn't be afraid to cry Naruto,"** the fox told him.

"Demons don't cry," Naruto shot back cheekily as some of them streaked down his face.

"**Ha! Whoever told you that is a baka!"** the Kyuubi replied. **"I'll be gone when you wake up, but don't think I'm leaving you with nothing,"** Kyuubi told the boy.

Confused, Naruto watched as the fox pulled out a large scroll from seemingly nowhere. It was the size f a summoning contract with a red and gold color with the kanji for nine written in black on it. **"This scroll contains all the techniques I know, and when I say all I mean ALL,"** Naruto gaped a bit at that while the fox just chuckled a bit. **"Keep it safe and don't let the emo or any undeserving prick get their hands on it,"**

Naruto nodded at that and gently took the scroll. When he turned back to thank his father, Naruto watched as the Kyuubi slowly began to fade away.

"**It seems my time is up,"** the fox said nonchalantly. Naruto looked at the Bijuu in despair and bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to hold back the fresh onslaught of tears. He wouldn't break down, not here, not in front of his father.

The Kyuubi just chuckled and pulled him into a hug, his tails wrapping around him protectively while Naruto wrapped his arms around the demon in return. **"Goodbye sochi, make me proud,"** whispered Kyuubi as he silently wept with his son. Naruto just clutched his father tighter, desperately wishing he wouldn't go. Soon, the fox was gone and Naruto was left alone in his mind.

**Back in the real world**

Naruto awoke in tears as he slowly stood up and exited the fox hole. With a determined look, Naruto climbed to the top of the first giant tree he saw. Naruto watched as the son rose. _'I promise I'll make you proud Tou-san, dattebayo'_ thought the blonde with a sad smile while clutching his stomach where his seal slowly faded away, leaving Naruto with nothing but his father's scroll and cherished memories.

**A/N: Finished. Ok I have to admit I almost cried a bit as I wrote the Kyuubi's death, I really didn't want to kill him off but I realized that I can't keep all of my favorite characters alive, its just not believable. Please read and review and excuse me while I go find some tissues.**


	14. Sorry

**A/N: Hello everyone… Listen This story hasn't gone the way I've wanted it to. I appreciate those who read and reviewed but I just can't continue with this story with the way it is. **

**Don't worry though, I plan on rewriting this story! Doku and Yoku are just two characters I can't and never will get rid of, besides I think I just rushed through this thing, making things happen on a whim only to change my mind later on. Worry not though! I WILL REWRITE THIS STORY AND IT WILL BE EPIC!**

**THIS STORY SHALL LIVE ON! **

… **That being said I'm going to leave the original up so I can have a reference. **


	15. It's here!

**A/N: Everyone! I have good news! The rewrite is up! So go, go and read the first chapter! Do it! DO ET NAAAUUUGGGGHHH!**


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